The Pascagoula democrat-star. (Pascagoula, Miss.) 1878-1920, 1896-04-24
Ghelrmafrat-S Star
THE INVISIBLE FOOD OF FISH.
New York Post.

lNtS 5tEt' t''N
monty given to "fatten" them causes
them to lose weight and die, and that
flour, often used for the same purpose,
soon pOlsons them, though, on the
other hand, the typhoid bacillus rs
destroyed by passing through the oys-
ter's %alimentary canal.
The latter discovery will be good
news to the owners OF oyster beds.
But the study Of bactcrIology is a new
one. What strikes the average reader
as more curious is the ~lateness OF the
discovery that the food commonly
used in shops to fatten oysters disa-
grees with and kills them. Yet it is
only one OF the results Of what, until
recently, was Il very general ignorance
OF the main food supply, not only OF
the oyster, but OF all the swarming
vertebrate fishes Of the sea except
snch as are entirely c%arniv0r0us and
live by preying upon other fish. The
food OF river fishes was better known ;
but what was, until recently, thought
to be their principal food, now APP
pears to play only Il limited part in
their maintenance, and the common
f%lsllerman's view, that river fishes.
like robins, live mainly on worms and
grubs, with a change Of g%round.bait
and paste, is almost as far removed
from fact as the showman's dcscrip.
ton of the elephants diet as consist.
ing mainly OF cakes and hay.
But the case OF the river fish did not
settle the obvious problem suggested
by the question Of the food supply in
the sea. The sea, except in the shall
low water fringe along the shore, is
devoid OF vegetables. II contains In
general no growth of weeds and plants
10 larbor swarms OF possible food
creatures with their eggs and larvae.
and where such vegetable growths do
occur, as in floating weeds Of the
Sargasso Sea, Il race OF fish aud
crustaccans at once appears, limited
TO that locality, and obviously fed
from that source alone. Neither does
the sea, except in certain areas, great
ly abound in vcrtebratcs fish. You
may catch large fish at any point on
the voyage in the narrow seas, from
Gibraltar down the Mediterranean to
Alden. But the open seas are not full
OF the fry OF fish, which might form Il
good supply for Others. and in the
Atlantic, except on the Newfoundland
banks, there are no fish found near
the surface at all. A bucket OF At
lantic water is to the eye simply IA
vessel OF transparent brine. unfou|ed
with weed, void Of fish, and. in most
cases, not vlsibly infested with any
form OF floating marine organisms.
Yet ut any moment shoals OF fish
numbering millions of individuals
may elect to enter this apparently
fOodlesS waste: the hcrring-shoals dis
appear into the deep Atlantic, and
return in good condition, oily and
e%xubcrant, and the whales find suili-
cicnt food to make them the --LATEST"
creatures in creation.
Many Of the whales are c%arnivorous;
some, including the fright" whale,
have long been known to live on small
sea crustaceans, which were supposed
To be found in exceptional numbers IN
the arctic seas. But the case Of the
sypical ''shoal' fish, such as pilcliards
and hcrrings, offered special diIlicul.
ties. When caught near land they
were often found to have been living
on sand cells, roe and small fish and
crabs. But in the greater number of
cases the contents OF their stomachs
were quite recognizable, and the i'm
mcnsc size OF the shoals increased the
difficulty Of believing that on the
migration they could live on fish or
on vegetable food. For fish moving
in q scrricd shOal extending for Il
square mile and perhaps thirty feet
deep, it would be impossible to find
room to chase and capture smaller
fish, even surprising these could be
found in sufficient numbers to form
food for the numbcrless hcrrings.
The rapidity and order Of their move
Mcnts make 1t equally unlikely that
they should stop to chew and browse
on vegetables, even when arrived in
the shallow IA where scawecdsgrOw.
IT was just possible that previous To
spawning the fish could for a time
abstain from food. But it was equal.
BY certain that, after spawning their
numbers were the same, and that they
must require food, and that in large
quantities, In an crca no greater than
that occupied by the herring On pill
chard shoal, SO long as the fish re-
manned in that formation. The cx-
PLANTATION Is that the microscopic
creatures which are in parts Of the
Atlantic masscd SO tlickly in the
water as to discolor the surface, and
give abundant food for the whale. are
present, not so thickly, but in num-
bcrs comparable to the notes in the
air, In all parts OF the sea. For the
purpose Of the herring and the pill.
chard, and countless other vertebrate
fish, sliellfsh and zoopbytes, the up
per water OF the sea are in fact a
nutritivc soup, tceming with food cx-
actly suited to their needs. These mi
cr0scOpic creatures are the basis Of all
the larger life Of the ocean, and IN Il
front hauroo nf tlo .,rnv.tL md IL,