504 AMERICAN FISHES. 
in or surrounded by a mucous or viscid substance, which seems to form a 
sort of protection for the egg. ‘This viscid substance has a tendency to 
adhere to whatever it touches ; and, although the eggs separate as soon as 
they touch the water, yet if in passing toward the bottom they touch any 
object, such as a leaf, twig, or bit of weed, they remain attached to it. The 
water appears to act as a hardening agent upon this viscid coating, causing 
it to ‘set’ in the form of a sack around the egg, with a slender stalk or 
handle between the egg and its attachment.” 
Males and females associate freely together during the spawning. It is 
remarked by Smitt of the closely related European species, that ‘a remark- 
able circumstance is that, whereas all other fishes prefer to spawn in fine 
weather, in the Smelt the case is just the reverse. In squally and snowy 
weather it is most eager in its ascent, the violent gusts of wind and snow 
that occur during the said months being hence known as Worse-i/” (Smelt _ 
Squalls). 
The waste in a state of nature must be very great, for the eggs require the 
immediate attention of the males, and most of them must escape that atten- 
tion. Mr. Rice found that “ if the spawn be allowed to remain in water for 
even a very short time before the milt is added, in fact, until by absorption 
the micropyle has become obliterated, the proportion of eggs which turn 
out unimpregnated and bad is very large indeed.” It is this waste which is 
guarded against by the pisciculturist. 
The eggs are hatched within a short time after fertilization, but the exact 
period depends greatly on temperature ; it may vary at least between eight 
and eighteen days, but perhaps a fair average is somewhere about twelve. 
The range of the Smelt extends from the New Jersey coast to the Gulf of 
St. Lawrence, and, although tolerably abundant now, was much more so 
in days gone by. The celebrated Captain John Smith declared, in 1622, 
that “ Of Smelts there is such abundance, that the Salvages doe take them 
up the rivers with baskets, like sives.” Reckless netting has much reduced 
their numbers since. Their palatable quality is so generally recognized 
now that there is demand for the table for all that are caught, and no more 
are they used for manure as they were up to less than half a century ago. 
The Smelt is, indeed, one of the most important fishes of the northern 
United States. “It is by far the most important river fish in Maine, easily 
surpassing in economic value the Salmon, Shad, Alewife, and other species 
that enter fresh water; its relative importance decreases southward, but 
nevertheless is great as far as New Jersey. An important fishery still exists 
