Recent Literature. 715 
other fishes, both as food and as enemies. In the former case we 
find the menhaden (Brevurtia menhaden), which, says Mr. Goode, 
is “ by far the most abundant species of fish on the eastern coast o 
the United States.” Millions are captured every year, without any 
apparent diminution of their numbers resulting. As a raptorial 
fish, the blue-fish may be cited. The destruction it deals in every 
direction is thus described by Prof. Baird: “ There is no parallel 
in point of destructiveness to the blue-fish among the marine spe- 
cies of our coast. The blue-fish has been well likened to an ani- 
mated chopping-machine, the business of which is to cut to pieces 
and otherwise destroy as many fish as possible in a given length of 
time. . . . As already referred to, it must be borne in mind that it 
is not merely the small fry that are thus devoured, and which it is 
expected will fall a prey to other animals, but that the food of the 
blue-fish consists very largely of individuals which have already 
passed a large percentage of the chances against their attaining 
maturity, many of them, indeed, having arrived at the period of 
spawning. . . . An allowance of ten fish per day to each blue-fish 
is not excessive, according to the testimony elicited from the fish- 
ermen and substantiated by the stomachs of those examined ; this 
gives ten thousand millions of fish destroyed per day. And as the 
ah gy of the stay of the blue-fish on the New England coast is at 
east one hundred and twenty days, we have in round numbers 
twelve hundred million millions of fish devoured in the course of a 
season, Again, if each blue-fish, averaging five pounds, devours 
or destroys even half its own weight of other fish per day (and I 
am not sure that the estimate of some witnesses of twice this weight 
1s hot more nearly correct), we will have during the same period a 
daily loss of twenty-five hundred million pounds, equal to three 
hundred thousand millions for the season.” 
This book gives some means of judging of the utility of the 
U. S. Fish Commission. As a manual for fishermen it is the best 
yet published, and with the “Synopsis of Fishes of North Amer- 
lea,” by Jordan and Gilbert, furnishes an introduction to ichthy- 
ology such as few countries possess. 
We notice some omissions from the accounts of fresh-water fishes, 
ew, and refer to but one, on p. 15. Dr. Estes writes of the pike- 
perch (Stizostedium vitreum Raf.): “In these waters (Lake Pepin) 
the wall-eye is seldom found associated with any other fish than the 
sand-pike. It is true, however, that in swift-rolling waters, especial] 
under falls, we find him in company with the black bass, but 
believe th 
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