SEA MUSSELS AND DOGFISH AS FOOD. 247 
The British method of mussel culture, briefly, is to collect young mussels 
from various places and transfer them to beds in favorable localities, usually 
in estuaries, where the water is brackish and where they are exposed at low 
tide, both of which conditions are supposed to favor growth and fattening. 
It has been estimated that the average yearly yield of an acre of such mussel 
beds is 108 tons, worth at least $262, which is about ten times as much as the 
agriculturist expects from his farm. 
To summarize the qualities of the mussel, we have a shellfish as palatable 
as the oyster, much more nutritious, and more digestible. It contains only half 
as much waste as the oyster, is more abundant, is more easily cultivated in that 
it requires less special conditions for growth, and it is adapted for making a 
greater variety of food preparations. Furthermore, it is in season for the table 
when the oyster is out of season. 
THE SMOOTH AND HORNED DOGFISHES. 
The smooth and the horned dogfishes constitute another article of food that 
prejudice is keeping from our tables. Of these I will merely state the results of 
my investigations. The smooth dogfish is common on our eastern coast south 
of Cape Cod during the summer, and, as I have shown in a recent paper, is a 
most destructive enemy of the lobster. The horned dogfish during the summer 
months has its range north of Cape Cod, where it is exceedingly abundant, and 
during this season plays havoc with the herring, the mackerel, and other fishing 
operations. This species, although it has a general resemblance to the smooth 
dogfish, is easily distinguished by the two horns, one lying in front of each 
dorsal fin. The habits, composition, and food properties of the two species are 
very different. 
The smooth dogfish is a bottom feeder, preying almost entirely upon crabs, 
lobsters, and other crustaceans. It doesnot run in schools, as does the horned 
dogfish, which goes in enormous numbers, preying upon the large schools of 
herring, mackerel, and upon fish caught on the trawler’s line. 
In composition the flesh of the smooth dogfish is free from oil, resembling 
most closely the cod. The horned dogfish, on the other hand, contains a large 
percentage of oil and in this respect most closely resembles the salmon. 
From the standpoint of palatability I have good testimony that the fresh 
smooth dogfish is just as good as flounder, halibut, or any other of the standard 
food fishes. I have had the fish served several times in various ways at the mess 
of the Marine Biological Laboratory, at one of the private boarding houses in 
Woods Hole, Mass., and in a number of private homes. In all cases, whether 
or not the persons knew what they were eating, favorable comments were made 
as to the texture and flavor of the fish. Not one adverse criticism was heard. 
Concerning the flavor of freshly prepared horned dogfish I can not speak from 
