﻿514 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [VOL. 47 



increase continues — and in fishes growth is not usually much reduced 

 in rapidity before the period of maturity is reached — the angler will 

 measure approximately 21 inches in length, and when 4 years old 

 about 26 or 27 inches. The information as to the size at which 

 maturity is first attained is not extensive, but males may be found 

 ripe at the size stated. Females probably do not become mature as 

 a rule until over 30 inches in length, and the facts point to the males 

 first reaching maturity when 4 years of age and the females when 5 

 years." 



As such an angler, it passes its life, year after year. It becomes 

 " a huge unshapely creature, and is of a soft, gelatinous, and flaccid 

 consistence. Its mouth is enormous," and its " antipathy to action 

 is strangely contrasted with the enormity of its appetite, to satisfy 

 which it has recourse to stratagem in the capture of its prey." 



VII 



The angler is not usually ranked among food-fishes and is gener- 

 ally unceremoniously rejected ; nevertheless it is said to furnish ex- 

 cellent meat. According to Donovan (1808), " the flesh of this fish 

 is white, and having, it is said, the same flavor as the common frog, 

 is eaten in many countries as a delicacy." Couch (1863) reported 

 that it " is a delicious dish." In Scotland. Parnell long ago (1839) 

 had declared that " the flesh is considered good, especially near the 

 tail," and Mcintosh and Masterman (1897) state that "it comes 

 under the category of a food-fish and is treated in a similar way to 

 the wolf-fish. The head is cut off and only the trunk is sent into the 

 market. This is sold under the name of ' croan ' and sometimes of 

 john dory, a name that of right belongs to a very different fish." 



In Massachusetts, where it is most frequently caught, according 

 to Storer (1855), " no use is made of this fish, as its liver contains 

 but little if any oil ; and its flesh has no fat. . This," he thought, " is 

 a singular fact, as most, if not all, other fish have either fat in their 

 livers or in their flesh." But although not eaten now, it was by the 

 aboriginal Americans, as is evidenced by the discovery by Wyman 

 (1868) of osseous remains in a shell-heap in Maine (Crouch's cove). 



A singular superstition is entertained in some parts of Sweden 

 1 Bohuslan) according to Malm and Smitt. " It is so feared by many 

 that die tackle is cut as soon as the 'monster' reaches the surface; 

 and its captor hurries home in order to get there, if possible, before 

 /lie misfortune portended by the monster overtakes him." The ex- 

 treme of misfortune — death — is believed by some to be indicated. 

 Xilsson tells that the Swedish fishermen on the hanks "believe that 



