THE SQUID AND OCTOPUS BARTSCH. 373 



Our American cod fishermen will thoroughly agree with him, but 

 they will say that baking or roasting is not essential, that salting 

 even will do. Let us quote again from Simmonds's Commercial 

 Products of the Sea: 



The squids form an important element in the North American fisheries. The 

 common Loligo is the favorite food of the cod, and is therefore itself fished 

 for bait. One-half of all the cod taken on the banks of Newfoundland are said 

 to be caught by it. When the vast shoals of this mollusk approach the coast 

 hundreds of vessels are ready to capture them, forming an extensive cuttle 

 fishery, engaging .500 sail of French, English, and American ships. During 

 violent gales of wind hundreds of tons of them are often thrown up together 

 in beds on the flat beaches, the decay of which spreads an intolerable elHuvium 

 around. They must themselves be consumed in enormous numbers, for it has 

 been estimated that a single squid will lay in one season 40,000 eggs. 



A recent inquiry at the Bureau of Fisheries yielded the statement 

 that about 3,000,000 pounds were captured annually,' estimated to 

 have a value of about$43,500. Sixty-six per cent are caught in traps 

 in moss chiefly aboiut Cape Cod, though many are obtained in the 

 same manner all the way from Maine to Marjdand. Considerable 

 quantities also are obtained by American fishing vessels on the coasts 

 of Canada and Newfoundland. These are not noted in the above 

 statistics. To a considerable extent in former times, but only to a 

 limited extent recently, squids have been caught by means of jigs, 

 a collection of hooks arranged in circular form along a central 

 weight. Jigs are dangled in the water at the end of short lines and 

 attract the squids which are caught when they attempt to seize them. 



On our west coast squids are caught for food purposes, being 

 chiefly used by the Oriental element of the population. All through 

 the south seas, the Philippines, and Japan, as well as the adjacent 

 mainland countries, one may see split and dried cuttlefish hung in 

 the stores and offered for sale as an element of proteid food. In the 

 Mediterranean countries, where they are also used as food, they are 

 usually pickled. Nor is the flesh the only element of commercial 

 value, for the cuttlefish bone forms quite an element of commerce. 

 It is not only used as an adjunct to the canary's cage, but in powdered 

 form has served as a fine polishing powder, a fine dentifrice, and an 

 ingredient of medicine. The ladies of ancient days knew it also, for 

 they were accustomed to use the burned product, known to them 

 as pearl powder, as an aid to complexion. In later days this was 

 even improved upon by the addition of a bit of carmine to form the 

 so-called French rouge. Sepia and India ink have been already 

 referred to and need no further mention here. 



We will close our sketch with some extracts from a charming ar- 

 ticle, "First Photographs Ever Made of a Paper Nautilus," pub- 

 73839°— SM 1916 25 



