178 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
sponge-culture will follow upon the continuation of the work begun at Woods Hole 
by Prof. H. Y. Wilson. A continuance of these and similar lines of research is an 
absolute necessity for the growth and development of the more immediately practical 
work of propagation and distribution. 
The collection and distribution of seeds is not the only function of the Depart- 
ment of Agriculture. This Department maintains a corps of scientific workers at 
home and abroad, and there is not a State, county, town, or hamlet that is not directly 
benefited by the results of its organized system of acquiring and diffusing knowledge. 
The efforts of the United States Fish Commission have been along similar lines and 
have yielded grand results, but the possibilities of the development of the fish 
industry have scarcely been indicated. 
For some years the starfish have wrought havoc among the oysters of the colder 
water of our coast. The fishermen have laboriously “ mopped” the ‘‘beds” with 
tangles of cotton waste, but have remained quite ignorant of the life habits of their 
enemy. A brief scientific study of the subject, however, has revealed many facts 
which point toward a possible, if not a probable, early correction of the evil. It has 
been found that the young, almost microscopic, gather in a narrow band along the 
shore, hidden in the eelgrass, where they may be killed off by the thousand with little 
labor and slight expense. Each oysterman, quite unwittingly, has been actually 
supporting, immediately around his oyster-bed, a nursery for the propagation of his 
enemy, the starfish. 
In one direction in particular there is crying need of both extended and extensive 
scientific research. I refer to a matter that received some attention at the Chicago 
congress, namely, that research which shall result in the development of the market for 
food- fish. I think I do not overstate the fact when I say that there should be three 
times as much fish consumed as is consumed at the present time. The problem is not 
alone how shall we produce more fish, but how shall we improve the industry by pro- 
viding a better and a more stable market for what is already produced. I feel that the 
fisherman and the fish-dealer are in a measure responsible for the fact that the average 
American can not endure fish oftener than one day in seven, and were it not for a wise 
provision of the church perhaps one day in seven would be far too frequent. While 
the dressing and shipping of meat and poultry has become almost an art, the methods 
of dressing and handling fish are crude in the extreme. 
The abuse of fish as an article of food begins at the moment it is captured and 
extends to, and often beyond, the kitchen. I need not relate the rough handling on 
board the smack, the careless packing, and the slovenly condition of our markets; 
these are all prejudicial to the consumer as well as to the fish; but I wish to emphasize 
the fact that they are also sources of great loss to the dealer. 
The blood that is ordinarily allowed to remain in the fish is the very medium that 
the bacteriologist uses for the culture of microbes, and its retention in the body of 
the fish provides the very medium in which the germs of decay delight. Should the 
fisherman bleed the fish immediately on its capture he would do much toward its 
reaching the consumer in a healthy condition. 
The digestive organs of the fish are very active, and its processes of digestion 
continue after death; but while before death the contents of the alimentary tract are 
alone acted upon, after death the digestive ferments attack the surrounding tissues, 
and they attack these tissues with great energy. A few minutes is often sufficient 
