[15] FISHERIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 121 



ing unsold at the close of the day are carried back to the Chinese set- 

 tlement, and put at once into boiling- brine, from which, after sufficient 

 boiling - , they are taken out and spread to dry upon level plats of hard 

 ground, which have been previously stripped of grass and rendered 

 perfectly smooth. After four or live days' time, they are crushed under 

 large wooden pestles, or trod upon by the Chinese in wooden shoes, for 

 the purpose of loosening the meats from the outer chitinous covering ; 

 after which the entire mixture is put through a fanning mill, for the 

 separation of the meats from the shells. The meats are partly con- 

 sumed at home, or at the various inland Chinese settlements, but are 

 mostly shipped to China. They are worth 5 cents a pound in San Fran- 

 cisco. The shells are utilized as manure, to some extent, about San 

 Francisco ; but, like the meats, are mostly sent to China, where they 

 serve as a fertilizer for rice, the tea plant, &c. In San Francisco they 

 sell at about 25 cents per hundred- weight. Both the meats and shells 

 are shipped to China in sacks. The trade is entirely in the hands of 

 Chinese merchants, who ship by way of Hong-Kong. 



In 1880, 4,214,000 pounds of Shrimp and Prawns, valued at $209,295, 

 lo the fishermen, were taken and sold on the coasts of the United 

 States. 



There are three common species of Mantis Shrimp (Squilla empusa 

 aud dubia, and Coronis glabriusculus) living upon the eastern coast of 

 the United States, one or more of which are occasionally used as bait 

 in the Southern States. 



AMPHIP0DS AND IS0P0DS. 



There are numerous species of Amphipods occurring upon the Ameri- 

 can coasts, which act as useful scavengers, both in shallow and deep 

 water. They frequently annoy fishermen by eating the fish caught on 

 trawl-lines. There is also one very injurious species of Amphipod 

 (Chelura terebrans), and one of Isopod (Limnoria lignorum), which are 

 active wood borers, rapidly destroying submerged timbers, such as the 

 piles of wharves, buoys, &c. They sometimes act in concert, and the 

 results are similar to those attained by the ship-worm (Teredo). Numer- 

 ous instances of their ravages have been recorded. The Limnoria in- 

 habits the Pacific as well as the Atlantic coast, but the Chelura has so 

 far been recognized only from New England. They are both European 

 species. 



KING CRAB— HORSESHOE CRAB. 



The curious Horseshoe Crab or King Crab (Limulus Polyphemus), 

 which ranges along nearly the entire eastern coast of the United States, 

 is occasionally eaten by man, but its flavor is not of a high order, and 

 there is a general prejudice against it as an article of food It is, how- 

 ever, frequently fed to swine and poultry on the coast of the Middle and 

 Southern States, and in the same regions is in great favor as a fertil- 



