Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, Transmitted to Congress, With the Annual Message of the President, December 1, 1879

No. 164.
Mr. Taylor to Mr. Evarts.

Legation of the United States,
Berlin, November 18, 1878. (Received December 4.)

No. 56.]

Sir: I have the honor to inclose the translation of a letter received from the committee of the German Fisheries Society, together with the programme (and translation) of an international exhibition proposed to be held in Berlin in 1880, to which the attention and co-operation of the United States Government is invited.

The present condition of the German fisheries will be found briefly set forth in the able report of our consul-general at Berlin on page 270 of the volume of Commercial Relations for 1877. It is the object of the German Fisheries Society to aid in developing this branch of the national industry, as also the science of pisciculture, which is now receiving much attention in this country.

As the United States are known as one of the first and most successful nations in pisciculture, their participation in this proposed exhibition would be greatly appreciated here, and the expense incident to it would probably be slight compared with the great international advantages to be derived from a general exchange of the latest views on this important question.

I have, &c.,

BAYARD TAYLOR.

[Inclosure 1 in No. 56. Translation.]

Letter of the committee of the German Fisheries Society to Mr. Taylor.

Berlin, November 8, 1878.

To Mr. Bayard Taylor,
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary:

Excellency: Under the patronage of his imperial and royal highness the Crown Prince, as patron of the German Fisheries Society, there will be held, about the end of April, 1880, in this city, a second international exhibition of products and utensils of the sea and inland fisheries, regarding which the inclosed programme will furnish your excellency with full information.

We expect thus again to attract universal attention to the fishery industry, and to awaken a wider interest in the intelligent management of waters as well as a practical pisciculture. While the first exhibition of this kind of the society with the above-named object was attended with very gratifying results, and as the connections of the society have extensively widened, it is to be expected that the proposed exhibition will attain a completeness which can but result in stimulating and benefiting all the aims of the fishery industry. Our object consequently would be, the wider we extend our circle, the more to subserve the interests of all civilized nations.

The great growth which the fisheries have enjoyed in the United States of America makes it desirable for us to see them very fully represented at our exhibition.

We address ourselves, therefore, to your excellency with the urgent request to lend your powerful support to our undertaking, and to bring it to the knowledge of your government, and in the respective districts of the United States, to invite an active participation in our exhibition.

For the committee of the German Fishery Society:

VON BEHR.

[Inclosure 2, in No. 56. Translation.]

Under the patronage of his imperial and royal highness the Crown Prince of the German Empire and of Prussia.

international exhibition of products and implements of ocean and inland fisheries at berlin in april, 1880.

Honorary president.—Minister of State—Dr. Friedenthal.

Committee.—Von Behr, Dr. von Bunsen, Dr. Peters, Baron von Baumbach, &c., &c., &c.

PROGRAMME.

Class I.

Water animals.

1. Living or preserved in alcohol or in drawings.

2. Prepared or dried, salted, smoked, powdered, in tin cans, &c., and in various processes of preparation, especially—

a. Sponges. (Bath sponges, according to localities and kinds.)

b. Corals, rough and worked.

c. Mollusks: Oysters; specimens of shells from the best known localities; anatomy of oysters on a magnified scale; muscles of all kinds; pearl oysters; working of mother-of-pearl; pearls arranged according to their market value; copies of the most celebrated pearls; river pearls, mother-of-pearl, and samples.

d. Echinoder mata. (Star fish, sea urchins.)

e. Worms.

f. Insects. (Larvæ of insects as destroyers of spawn, or as food of fishes.)

g. Crustaceans. (Different species of crabs.)

h. Fishes of all kinds and of all zones.

i. Amphibia: Turtles, edible kinds; tortoise-shell in different stages of manufacture as far as combs or inlaid furniture (for comparison, imitation tortoise-shell), salamanders, frogs (spawn of frogs), serpents (serpents’ skins).

k. Water birds. (All the birds injurious to fisheries, sea-gulls, herons, cormorants, &c.

l. Mammals (seals, whales), and their products. The mammals in sweet waters injurious to fishes.

3. All the products of water animals.

Class II.

Fisheries.

a. Fishing-tackle of all kinds and of all nations, originals or models.

b. River and sea fishing craft of all nations in models or drawings.

c. Materials for fisheries in different stages of manufacture.

d. Machines and implements for working the raw material.

Class III.

Artificial breeding of sea animals.

a. Breeding apparatus: All kinds of contrivances and apparatus for the artificial breeding of fish, crabs, and muscles; also, vessels for bedding the young in sand.

b. Models or drawings of approved breeding systems.

c. Models or drawings of contrivances for the protection or for the perfection of water animals (salmon ladders, &c., &c).

d. Aquariums of all kinds.

e. The history of the growth of some of the principal water animals (oysters, salmon, herring, crabs, &c.) Exhibition of the same at different ages.

Class IV.

Contrivances for the preservation, and for the bedding in sand, of fresh-water animals in the original or models. (Transport of fish by railroads.)

Class V.

Contrivances for preparing, dressing, or keeping fishery products by drying, salting, smoking, &c., for commerce (i. e. models of smoke-houses, &c), as also for household use (as fish-kettles, fish-dishes).

Class VI.

Models of fisherman’s houses and costumes, also of fishing utensils, not included in the preceding classes.

Class VII.

Examination of waters in reference to the condition of fish; physico-chemical examination; examination of the bottom; samples of bottom; botanical investigations (water plants with reference to fish culture, characteristic selection of plants, herbariums, &c.), specimens of fauna (lower animals in spirits, preparations, &c.), methods and apparatus for this study.

Class VIII.

History of fisheries.

Implements for fishing in the original or in drawings, from the earliest times, also models, pictures, documents, seals, emblems of old fishing guilds, &c.

Class IX.

The literary statistics of fisheries and surveys of the geographical extent of fishes.

conditions of the exhibition.

1. The objects to be exhibited must be announced by the 1st January, 1880, to the committee of the German Fisheries Society, which decides regarding the admission, with a note, specifying the corresponding class of the programme and a statement of the space (wall, floor, tables) which is required.

2. The costs of the arrangements of the location and of the whole setting up, are borne by the committee of the German Fisheries Society.

3. The objects to be exhibited must be sent prepaid in the month of March to this committee. The expenses that may accrue for the transportation from the railway station in Berlin to the exhibition grounds will be borne by the committee of the German Fisheries Society.

The exact details as to time and the address are reserved for future communication. Very perishable objects can be accepted during the exhibition.

4. The supervision and protection of the objects will be assumed by the committee, without any responsibility for accidental loss or damage, for theft, or fire. If requested, the committee will have an insurance effected against loss by fire at its own expense.

5. The objects exhibited will, after the close of the exhibition, be returned to the exhibitor free of expense. An exception is only made as regards perishable objects, concerning which an arrangement will be made in Berlin between the committee and the exhibitor.

6. In regard to a possible reduction of freight and the awarding of prizes a further announcement is reserved.

7. The objects exhibited must, as far as possible, be marked with the name and residence of the exhibitor. In all cases where the return of the objects is desired, an exact specification of them is to be sent to the committee.