BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 401 
their proposed experiments a profound secret, hoping not only to profit 
by being first in the field in this new enterprise, but also fearing the 
antagonism of other fishermen not similarly provided.” 
Mr. J. H. McManus, of Boston, who was part owner of the Sylph at the 
time the experiment above referred to was tried, says she carried a beam- 
trawl of the largest size, having a 50-foot beam, that it was set five times 
off Cape Cod in 10 to 20 fathoms of water, but no fish of any conse- 
quence, except flounders, was taken in it. The crew of the Sylph , being 
all poor men, according to Mr. McManus, could not afford to continue 
the trials. Therefore the attempt to use this form of apparatus was 
given up, and the three trawls which had been brought over from Ire- 
land were sold to parties in Virginia to use for some unknown purpose 
in Chesapeake Bay. 
Mr. McManus thinks that possibly one cause of this failure to intro- 
duce the beain-trawl was due to the foot-line not being heavy enough 
for that purpose, but he is, nevertheless, of the opinion that it can not 
be used to good advantage north of Cape Cod. 
Mr. A. Booth, of Chicago, well known throughout the United States as 
an extensive packer of fish and oysters, told me while at London, July, 
1883, that he imported a beam-trawl from England as early as 1873. He 
tried to use it for the capture of whitefish ( Coregonus ) on Lake Michi- 
gan ; but although a few were taken, the attempt was a failure, since 
the trawl could not be successfully used there, because it became fre- 
quently entangled with the sunken logs that were more or less numer- 
ous on the bottom of the lake. He also stated that he had no one ex- 
perienced in this particular fishery to handle his trawl, and therefore 
he is not fully satisfied that it is impracticable to use this form of appa- 
ratus in some of the lake fisheries. 
In the scientific investigations made by the U. S. Fish Commission 
off the Atlantic coast, from Cape Hatteras to Halifax, Nova Scotia, the 
beam-trawl has been extensively used, and among the various new 
species of fish that have been captured in it may be mentioned the pole 
flounder ( Glyptocephalus cynoglossus ), which was first taken on the New 
England coast in 1877. This species, which for food purposes is pro- 
nounced quite equal to the European sole, has a very small mouth, and 
can therefore be taken in large numbers only in a beam-trawl. It occurs 
in greater or less abundance off the New England coast, and north- 
wardly to the Grand Bank. 
Lieutenant- Commander Z. L. Tanner, who has for several years been 
in command of the Fish Commission’s steamers, has used the beam-trawl 
very extensively for scientific purposes in the waters of Massachusetts 
Bay and off Cape Cod, as well as elsewhere along the coast. He says 
that there are large areas on the eastern slope of Stellwagen Bank and 
east of Cape Cod, outside of a depth of 45 fathoms, where a beam-trawl 
could be employed to advantage, the bottom, being a mixture of sand 
Bull. U. S. F. C., 87- — -26 
