Candle-fish

Candle-fish (Thallichthys pacificus or Osmcrus thallichthys), a remarkable fish of the family Salmonidae, nearly allied to the smelt (Osmcrus eperlanus), if not in the same genus with it. It inhabits the Pacific Ocean, near the western shores of America, from Vancouver's Island northwards, and is common in the bay of San Francisco. It is probably the fattest or oiliest of fishes, if not of animals, and is used by the Indians not only as an article of food, but for making oil. The extraction of its oil is now a regular business. To broil or fry it is nearly impossible, because it almost completely melts into oil. When dried it may be burned as a lamp. It is also known as Eulachon or Oulachon.