OR, PLA1K TEACHING. 



85 



with fish and furs. At the 

 breaking out of the revolution- 

 ary contest, the fishing towns 

 were rich and populous. In 

 1775, in the hope of starving 

 New England into submission, 

 the British Parliament passed 

 the act to deprive the Colonies 

 of the right of fishing on the 

 Banks of Newfoundland. The 

 breaking out of hostilities that 

 soon followed, nearly destroyed 

 the fisheries for a time. The 

 fishermen of New England now 

 turned their attention to pri- 

 vateering, and of the 200,000 

 tons of British shipping cap- 

 tured during the war, it is com- 

 puted that at least one-half was 

 taken by them. The federal 

 government early recognized 

 the importance of the fisheries, 

 and the necessity of encourag- 

 ing them by legislative action. 

 During the war of 1812-15, the 

 enemy's cruisers kept the fish- 

 ermen from the distant fishing- 

 grounds. Many of them en- 

 tered the navy, and the frigate 

 Constitution was manned chief- 

 ly by them. The total value 

 of the products of the sea-fish- 

 eries of the United States ex- 

 ported during the year ending 

 June 30, 1858, was $3,550,295. 

 Of this sum, $2,865,847 was the 

 product of the whale-fishery, 

 and $684,448 of the cod, mack- 

 erel, and herring fisheries. The 

 island of Hayti took of the ex- 

 ports of the latter fisheries, the 

 amount of $233,056, or more 

 than one-third of the whole. 

 The next best customer was 

 Cuba, which took to the value 



of $129,623. Beside the sea 

 fisheries, the river and lake fish- 

 eries of the United States are 

 of great importance. There 

 are valuable shad fisheries in 

 the Connecticut, Hudson, Del- 

 aware, Potomac, and other riv- 

 ers falling into the Atlantic. 

 The great lake fisheries are 

 those of Erie, Huron, Michigan, 

 and Superior. The white fish 

 is the principal object of pur- 

 suit, though trout and pickerel 

 are caught in large quantities. 

 The amount taken annually is 

 estimated at 45,000 barrels, 

 which are worth nearly $500,- 

 000. From the rivers flowing 

 into the lakes about 10,000 bar- 

 rels of pickerel, worth $85,000, 

 are annually taken. The fish- 

 eries of the Pacific coast of the 

 United States are yet in their 

 infancy ; but the rivers of that 

 region abound in salmon of the 

 very finest quality, of which 

 an enormous amount is annual- 

 ly caught. 



The well-known substance 

 isinglass is prepared from certain 

 parts of the entrails of several 

 fish. The best isinglass is brought 

 from Russia ; some of an inferior 

 kind is exported from IN orth and 

 South America, and the East In- 

 dies. The isinglass prepared from 

 the sturgeon is generally esteem- 

 ed the best, next to that, the 

 beluga ; it is, also, prepared from 

 sterlets, shad, and barbel, though 

 not so good. The mode of pre- 

 paring isinglass is as follows : — 

 the air-bladder and sounds of the 

 fish are removed, washed with 

 cold water, and exposed a little 



