ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



1387 



grew on the mud. The alert mind which dis- 

 covered this fact quickly came to the conclusion 

 that mussels could be profitably raised on wood- 

 en frames. 



Professor Field gives at length the methods 

 of sea mussel culture in France^ Italy, Great 

 Britain, Belgium, Scandinavia and at Kiel. 



The so-called British method of culture is to 

 thin out natural beds, on good hard bottoms with 

 only a thin layer of mud, and where silt is not 

 too rapidly deposited, and transplant young 

 mussels on artificial beds in favol'able localities. 

 The advantages of the bed system are recog- 

 nized in other countries; it is recommended in 

 Belgium, Sweden and Norway. Some of the 

 progressive fishermen in this country have re- 

 cently put^ the transplanting system into prac- 

 tice with great success in certain regions of 

 Long Island Sound. In Germany the bay of 

 Kiel contains extensive areas where mussels are 

 cultivated. Stakes are driven into the bottom 

 and left from three to five years during which 

 time they become covered with mussels of mar- 

 ketable size. They are then taken up, stripped 

 and replaced by others. 



The raft is another means used to collect 

 spat and when filled is towed to a breeding basin 

 where it requires but little care. The objec- 

 tions to this method is the rapid decay of the 

 planks of the raft. In Italy, from the southern 

 shore north to Rome, the market is supplied 

 from the vicinity of Tarante, where the mussels 

 are cultivated on ropes made from rushes sus- 

 pended in the water from stakes. 



In Europe mussel culture ranks only second 

 in importance to that of the oyster among the 

 shell fish industries and its total value aggre- 

 gates millions of dollars. In the United States 

 where sea mussels are exceedingly abundant, 

 but the food value of which remains unknown, 

 the sale of sea mussels including those used 

 for food, bait and fertilizer, barely approaches 

 eleven thousand, six hundred dollars annually. 



Professor Field gives us tables of the com- 

 parative composition and food value of certain 

 shell fish and of the comparative cost of protein 

 and energy furnished by sea mussel and other 

 shell fish. The mussel, compared with the oys- 

 ter, has four times the protein, three times as 

 much fat, and thirty-one times as much carbo- 

 hydrate, with a total nutrient value four times 

 greater. Its calories, or fuel value, being one 

 hundred and fifty against forty-one in the oyster. 

 The comparative cost of the protein and energy 

 furnished by sea mussels and that supplied by 

 oysters is found to be twenty-two and a half 

 cents per pound in the sea mussel and three 



dollars and five cents per pound in the oyster. 

 These tables prove that sea mussels, from the 

 standpoint of economy, surpass all other shell 

 fish food by a wide margin. 



A French writer expresses the food qualities 

 of the sea mussel by the following ratio: "Mus- 

 sels are to oysters as potatoes are to truffles." 

 In other words mussels are a substantial eco- 

 nomical food not a luxury. 



Prejudice is a barrier difficult to overcome, 

 but the outlook is favorable for a gradual de- 

 velopment of a sea mussel industry which will 

 not stop until it has reached the same plane 

 that it now occupies in Europe, second only to 

 that of the oyster. 



E. B. TOWNSEND. 



UTILIZATION OF THE TILEFISH. 



The campaign inaugurated by the United 

 States Bureau of Fisheries in October and No- 

 vember for the introduction of the tilefish into 

 the markets has yielded most satisfactory re- 

 sults. The fishing vessel chartered by the Bu- 

 reau made four trips to the tilefish banks, 100 

 miles S. E. of New York, and landed nearly 

 40,000 pounds. 



Other vessels at once engaged in the fishery, 

 and there is now a large and regular supply 

 of this excellent fish in the markets of New 

 York, Boston, Philadelphia and other cities. 



The supply of tilefish on the fishing banks 

 seems to be large and the catch can be sold at 

 moderate prices. There are now six vessels 

 fishing from the port of New York and the 

 quantity of tilefish landed during the month 

 of Januar}'^ was nearly 400,000 pounds. 



The United States Bureau of Fisheries has 

 detailed the steamer Roosevelt for an investi- 

 gation of tilefish grounds off the capes of the 

 Chesapeake, as there is reason to believe that 

 the fishing grounds for the tilefish may extend 

 somewhat farther south than has hitherto been 

 supposed. — C. H. T. 



THE PACIFIC SALMONS. 

 An Interesting Study on Their Physiology. 



One of the most interesting papers which the 

 reviewer has had the opportunitv to read for 

 some time is one entitled "On some quantitative 

 {physiological changes in the Pacific salmon dur- 

 ing the run to the spawning grounds," written 



