UNUTILIZED FISHES. 43 



tilizer and glue, the government to buy all the dogfish that the fisher- 

 men will bring in. An official of one of the largest glue manufac- 

 tories says that all attempts to make glue from dogfish have 

 proved failures, and he does not think that a marketable quality of 

 glue can be obtained from that kind of fish. But simple boiling of 

 the cartilaginous parts for a short time will extract a considerable 

 quantity of glue which is about as good as ordinary mucilage, or per- 

 haps even stronger as an adhesive. It remains to be seen whether the 

 Canadian government can make a marketable quality. If the 

 experiment is successful a new value will be created for the dogfish. 



FLESH. 



The flesh is perhaps the most valuable part of the dogfish, though 

 few people have come to appreciate it. The offensive name, prejudice 

 toward sharks in general as voracious man-eaters, and failure to 

 prepare the fish properly for the table have prevented the dogfish 

 from becoming one of our staple food fishes. Tenison- Woods (1882) 

 says that the flesh of sharks as a rule contains more nutriment than 

 any fish flesh. If this statement is correct, the dogfish, which is a 

 shark, and which has a tender, well-flavored flesh, ought to consti- 

 tute a very valuable food. In Nova Scotia, Ireland, Scotland, and 

 Norway horned dogfish have been dried in considerable quantities as 

 food for cattle. Pigs are said to thrive well upon this food in the 

 winter and even cows show a great liking for it. In many parts of 

 the world dogfish are eaten b}^ man and even highly prized as a food. 

 Simmonds (1879) says that in Norway the horned dogfish is consid- 

 ered a delicacy and is also dried as split stockfish for home consump- 

 tion and for export to Sweden. Goode (1884) writes that at Folk- 

 stone, England, the smooth dogfish is dried and goes by the name of 

 " Folkstone beef." In Bermuda it is known as the " nursefish " and 

 highly esteemed as a food by the negroes. Smitt (1895) says of the 

 horned dogfish: 



The flesh of the picked dogfish (Squalus acanthias) is quite white and free 

 from the disagreeable smell with which the larger sharks are tainted. It is said 

 to be fairly palatable, and it is eaten in Bohuslan both fresh, either boiled or 

 fried, and cured, either salted or dried, in the last case usually after lyeing. 

 So, too, in Norway, where, however, it is not much esteemed. In Scotland and 

 in southern Europe the picked dogfish is also frequently used for food. In a 

 dried state it is a marketable commodity. 



The eggs of the dogfish are used for making puddings, pancakes, 

 etc., and otherwise as a substitute for fowl's eggs. 



Food qualities of smooth dogfish. — Some test of the food qualities 

 of the smooth dogfish was made in July, 1903, during the course of 

 the present investigations. Fried smooth dogfish was sampled by 

 about a dozen members of the scientific staff of the Bureau of Fish- 



