ccxlviii Clupeid^e. FISHES. Clupeid®. 
mense quantities for hait, manure, oil and food. 
Frequently one liundred barrels are taken at one 
haul of the seine.” 'I'lie oil taken from tliese Pislies 
is largely used in out-door painting, being considered 
preferable to linseed oil. DeKay says tlie largest 
haul he has heard of numbered eighty-four wagon 
loads. 
SHAD {Alosa sapidmima {Wilson), Storer ). — 
'I’his valuable B’ish is found I'aiiging from Newfound- 
land southward as far as Florida. Mitchill says it 
comes regularly from the ocean and visits us at New 
York in an annual migration, about the end of 
-Mai'ch, ascending towards the sources of the Hudson 
and other rivers to breed. It usually weighs about 
four or five pounds, but has been taken as heavy as 
twelve pounds. Smith says: “It bears so much re- 
semblance to the Herring as to be called ‘'I’he 
Mother of Herring.’ 'I’he Shad Fishery of the Con- 
necticut River has been a source of great wealth be- 
tween Saybrook and Hartford. 'I’he Merrimack, Med- 
ford, Connecticut and Neponset rivers are among 
the principal ones in which this Fish is taken in such 
quantities as to make it an object of pecuniary inter- 
est.” DeKay figures and describes this species as 
The American Shad (Alosa prsestabilis), and char- 
acterizes it as the “largest American species of the 
genus; length, one to two feet.” He adds: “This 
beautiful and savory Fish has been confounded with 
the Shad of Europe. 'I’he A. vulgaris, or Allice 
Shad of Yarrell, is more like ours in size and flavor. 
Unlike most of the genus which come to us from the 
Northern seas, this species appears from the south 
to deposit its spawn. In Charleston, S. C., they 
come in January or February ; later at Norfolk; and 
here the latter end of March or first of April, theii’ 
appearance being accelerated or retarded by the 
mildness or severity of the season ; on the coast of 
Massachusetts they appear in .May, and farther north 
they have been observed still later.” 'I’here are sev- 
eral varieties. On the coast of Carolina the fat ones 
have the tail swollen, and are called Gluh-tnils. 
Formerly a large variety was taken in the Hudson 
River called Yellow -hacks. Those which ascend the 
Connecticut are more cylindrical in body, and are 
considered a better quality. 'I’he Shad that enter 
the Hudson are known to spawn one hundred and 
fifty miles from its mouth. 'I'hey are called Back 
Shad when they are returning about the end of May, 
and are then lean and poor eating. Dr. Storer re- 
cords : “'I'lie quantities of Shad taken in Charles 
River, Mass., at Watertown, for the five years pi'e- 
ceding 1838, averaged about six thousand per annum. 
From three thousand to four thousand are yearly 
caught at Taunton. About the first of this century 
this Fish was very scai’ce in the Meirimack River, 
and remained so for about five years; previous to 
that time they had been very abundant. After the 
scarcity they became again abundant, and continued 
so until about the year 1810, when they were again 
scarce for a few years. 'I’hey then became plentiful, 
and still remain so.” In many streams these Fish 
are entirely cut off by dams and noxious factories. 
'J'he Shad is not esteemed as food when taken in salt- 
water. Ausonius referred to this state when, as we 
have seen in our account of the family, he despised 
it as the “poor man’s food.” In the region of New 
York, and probably in various parts of Europe, the 
various species of Shad are regarded as very superioi- 
food. In New England, where the salt-water Fishes 
are much better flavored than in the more Southern 
waters, the Shad is not really popular. Especially 
is this so east of Boston. It is ranked with the Ale- 
wife and Herring — too little for the picking. 
THKEAD HERRING {Opisthonema thrissa, Gill ). — 
This species ranges from Newfoundland to Florida. 
It is known as Menhaden in Portland, probably con- 
founded with the Brevoortia. In New York it is 
called Shad-herring and Thread-fish. DeKay says 
it appears in New York waters about the first of 
September. He records and figures it as Spotted- 
thread Herring (Chalaessus signifer). Length, 
eight to ten inches. It is a beautiful form, the ele- 
gant shape of the doi’sal fin being increased by the 
long filament which constitutes the last dorsal ray. 
THE HERRING {Pomolobus 2^seudoha7'engiis ( Wil- 
son), Gill). — Called Ai.ewife in New England ; Cas- 
PEREAU in the British Provinces; Spring Herring, 
Kyack, Beue-back, Saw-beley, and Cat-thresher in 
Maine. 'I’lie Narragansets called it Aumsuog. It 
has a range from Newfoundland to Florida. Pen- 
nant and others conceived the notion that Herring 
rendezvous in winter in the Arctic circle, where 
they continue several months in order to recruit, 
themselves with the abundance of food they find 
there, after the exhaustion of spawning. 'I'hey begin 
to appear off the Shetland Islands in April and May, 
but the grand shoal is not seen until June. The 
main body is described as altering the appearance of 
the very ocean. It is divided into distinct columns 
of five or six miles in length, and three or four in 
breadth, and drives the water before it with a kind 
of rippling. Sometimes it sinks for a few minutes, 
ami then rises again to the surface. The Shetland 
Islands form the first check, and divide it into two 
parts; then, pursuing its way down the coasts, it 
enters every bay or inlet on either side, even as far as 
the coast of France. Pennant, quoting from Cates- 
by, says of the American Herring: “They leave the 
salt-water in March ami run np the rivers of Carolina 
in such numbers that the inhabitants fling them 
ashore by shovels full ; passengers trample them 
under feet in fording streams.” Mitchill describes 
this species as Spring Herring, or Ai.ewife (Clupea 
vernalis). He says.: “We are informed that (his 
very species of Fish used to spawn in Crumpond, 
a source of the Peekskill, and in Lake Otsego, at the 
head of the Susquehannah, but has discontinued on 
account of dams and oilier obstructions.” Mitchill 
was a representative to the Assembly at Albany in 
1810, when a project was on foot for damming the 
Hudson River near Troy, to facilitate navigation 
above. He made strenuous efforts to defeat it, con- 
sidering himself an “advocate tor the Fish, and 
begged the House to view him as counsel for their 
silent tribes. Like St. Antonio he felt a deep con- 
cern for their welfare.” The scheme was negatived. 
