Encyclopædia americana. A popular dictionary of arts, sciences, literature, history, politics and biography, a new ed.; including a copious collection of original articles in American biography; on the basis of the 7th ed. of the German Conversations-lexicon. Ed. by Francis Lieber, assisted by E. Wigglesworth ...

122 BLACKFISH-BLACK FOREST.
gan Indians for this fish. The common man no longer a temptation. The flw
name, blackfish, is bestowed on account of ering of the common dog-wood (co? mIeo
the color of its back and sides, which are florida) is considered an indication of the
)f a bluish or crow-black; the lips, lower beginning of the fishing season; and
jaw, neck and belly, especially in the where this tree is not to be seen, the
males, are white. The mouth is rather vegetation of the chestnut-tree is regard
small, the lips skinny or fleshy, and the ed as a similar indication. These fish
teeth are about twelve in number in each are brought to Philadelphia market in
jaw, the two front teeth being largest, and wagons, from Long Branch, &c., being
the rest of the respective rows gradually packed in ice, and frozen as soon as
decreasing in size. Within the external caught.
ranges are the points of smaller teeth, in- BLACK FOREST (in German, Schwarzserted with rather less regularity: they wald); a chain of mountains in the grandare sharp, distinct, and covered by the duchy of Baden and the kingdom of
lips. The tongue is white, smooth, lying Wfirtemberg. It runs almost parallel
close, but discoverable by raising; tail with the Rhine,from south to north, often
entire, and somewhat convex, the middle only from 15 to 20 miles distant from this
rays being somewhat more prominent river; is about 85 miles long, and, fiom
than the upper and lower ones; gill cov- east to west, in the southern part, about
ers smooth, neither scaly, serrated nor 30 miles wide; in the northern, about 18.
rough; extremities of the pectoral fins The Danube rises in these mountains, as
whitish; eyes rather small.. The black- well as many other rivers. Those on the
fish is plump in appearance, and is much west side run into the Rhine, those on the
esteemed for the table. It varies in size, east side into the Danube. The Black
from 2 or 3 to 10 or 12 pounds. Rocks, Forest is rather a chain of elevated plains,
reefs and rough bottoms of the sea, in the than of isolated peaks. The highest sumnneighborhood of the coasts, are the situa- mit, the Feldberg, measures 4610 Germlan
tions most frequented by the blackfish, feet. Except from June to September,
which appear to be stationary inhabitants these mountains are generally covered
of the salt water, as they do not, like the with snow, and even during this period,
salmon, herring, &c., desert their haunts are not entirely free fiom it. Among the
to visit the fresh-water rivers. These many valleys of this chain, the Murgthal
fish are caught in abundance, along the is particularly celebrated for its beautiful
whole of Long Island sound, Fisher's scenery. The whole chain consists of
Island sound, and in Narragansett bay. primitive mountains: its skeleton, throughThey are also found in the southern bays out, is granite; its higher points are covof Long Island, and on the ocean banks ered with sand-stone, and other layers of
off Sandy Hook. They were formerly less consequence, and are surrounded by
carried over land from Newport and heights composed of floetz rocks. On
Providence to Boston market, but are the western side, at the foot, appears
now caught in Massachusetts bay in suf- gneiss. Porphyry and clay-slate are
ficient numbers to render such importa- found on several heights, as, likewise, siltion unnecessary.-In catching blackfish, ver, lead, copper, iron, cobalt and minerthe hand line is generally used, though al waters. The woods are abundant, and
the angle rod may often be advantageous- consist mostly of pines and similar spely employed: they seize the bait greedily, cies. The raising of cattle is the princiat proper seasons, and pull strongly, in pal branch of husbandry carried on in this
proportion to their size and weight. They district. The ground is not fertile, and
are occasionally taken in seines. The the inhabitants, scattered over the mounbalt commonly employed is the soft clam tains, live extremely frugally, but are very
(mya), the soldier-crab or fiddler (ocypo- industrious. Their manner ofliving, buildda), or the large finny worm of the salt- ing their houses, and cultivatin g their lands,
water beaches, called nereis. As the is very peculiar. Till the 17th century,
warmth of spring comes on, the blackfish there was no spirit of trade or industry
begin to acquire their appetite, which is among them; but the wars of that period
suspended during the cold of winter, at developed it, and the manufactures of
which time a membrane is found to form glass, straw hats, wooden clocks, and othover and close up the vent. They may er wooden ware, are now very important.
be caught, as above stated, until the warmn They make, annually, more than 180,000
weather becomes well advanced, when wooden clocks, the value of which
such an abundance of food is to be pro- amounts to over half a million of guilders.
clled as to render the bait of the fisher- Neustadt and Furtwangen are the central