2 20 The Commei^cial Products of the Sea. 



or four fish impaled on the nails. Frequently a canoe is 

 filled with them in less than two hours by a couple of hands. 



By warming over a slow fire, or by heating in water, an 

 oil is abundantly obtained, which is used for the same 

 purposes as cod-liver oil, and with as much, if not greater, 

 benefit. The oil when cold is of the consistence of thick 

 cream, white in colour, with but little odour, and by no 

 means unpleasant to the taste — in fact, those who use it 

 very quickly acquire a partiality for it. The Indians make 

 large quantities every season, and with them it supplies the 

 place of butter. They cannot live without it, and it forms 

 a great article of trade. When properly filtered, a fine 

 pellucid oil, of a delicate, pale yellow colour, is obtained. 

 Some of the northern natives allow the fish to become 

 half putrid, and then express the oil by pressure upon 

 boards. 



There is no doubt but that this oil might become of 

 great economic value. It has been given medicinally, and 

 will probably be found useful where cod-liver oil or other 

 hydro-carbonaceous food is indicated. 



Menhaden Oil. — A fishery eagerly prosecuted for the oil 

 obtained from the fish is the menhaden, on the Atlantic 

 coast of the American States. Of the natural history of 

 the fish not much is accurately known, but it is stated to be 

 the Brevoordia menhaden (the Atom menhaden, Mitchell), 

 and belongs to the herring family, differing from it in 

 having a deep notch in the centre of the upper jaw. The 

 fish is from 8 to 14 inches in length. It frequents the 

 Atlantic seacoast, from Maine southward, but has not 

 been noticed south of Cape Hatteras. It is sometimes sold 

 in the markets as a table fish, but is usually considered 

 too oily for food. Among the fishermen, however, it is 

 esteemed a fine-flavoured fish. This is the source of the 



