SKATE. 89 



observed that the auricle of the heart, (or that part of it to 

 which the blood is returned from the veins, before it again 

 enters the heart for a renewed circulation,) was in continual 

 action, although the other portion of that organ remained at 

 rest. At nine o'clock in the evening, and twenty-five hours 

 after its capture, this pulsation continued at the rate of five 

 throbs in a minute, and probably for several hours following; 

 thus also affording proof that the auricle is the last part 

 of the body to die, as it is believed to be the first to shew 

 signs of life. In other instances the heart has been removed 

 from the body, and in that condition the pulsations of its 

 muscular structure have continued for the space of twenty- 

 four hours. 



The Skate is never the special object of the fisherman's 

 search, and when it chances to take the hook it may give 

 him perhaps a greater amount of trouble than the prize can 

 repay. As if sensible of danger, it will lie as still as if the 

 line had got entangled with a rock; in which case the only 

 resource is patience, for an attempt to raise it from the ground 

 will only have the effect of causing it to remain more still. 

 If, however, the head be raised, the body will follow, and 

 the fish ascends like a kite into the air, the effort of the 

 fisherman being directed to gather in his line in such a 

 manner, so that the fish shall not be able again to turn its 

 head downward; which, if it did, no strength he could employ 

 would interrupt its descent. 



The value of this fish as an article of food is very differently 

 thought of in different parts of this kingdom and of Europe. 

 Risso says it is not a common fish at Nice, but that it is 

 held in high estimation, and Lacepede also speaks of it as a 

 delicacy. But the most favourable account is by "Willoughby, 

 who records a remarkable instance, in which, owing probably 

 to excellent cookery and exquisite sauce, a single fish of this 

 sort, weighing two hundred pounds, dressed by the cook of 

 St. John's College, in Cambridge, was found to have satisfied 

 the appetites of one hundred and twenty learned gentlemen. 

 Lacepede says that it is salted and dried for exportation in 

 many places, and particularly in Holstein and Sleswick, and 

 in that state it is sent to Germany for sale. In our own 

 country we have seen it, thus prepared, in the market at 



VOL. I. 



