Miles. — Defense of the Dogfish 53 



of their neighbors and ate of them, and every one of these 

 always thereafter stoutly defended them as being of fine 

 flavor, but his opinion was ignored as unworthy of atten- 

 tion. Children were taught at their mothers' knees that if 

 they would keep their good names and hold honored places 

 in society they must not eat dogfish! All men and women 

 in Indiana and her neighboring states have grown up with 

 this prejudice imbedded deep within them, so that if you 

 ask any one of them if dogfish is good to eat he will rather 

 question your sanity than answer you with a simple "No." 

 And to ask a man if he ever tasted of the flesh of one is to 

 insult him. Would he so far forget his place in life as to 

 do such a disreputable thing! (But let me tell you in confi- 

 dence — I know a lot of proud gentlemen who would be 

 deeply wounded if you asked them such a question, who 

 have feasted on dogfish and praised it most highly ; but they 

 did not know what kind of fish it was when they ate it. 

 And I am not going to tell you who they are. ) 



Mr. William T. Hornaday, the director of the New York 

 Zoological Park, has written a book on natural history, and 

 he gives much interesting information about the dogfish. 

 He says of it : "To naturalists, the Dogfish is a creature of 

 much interest. Like the prong-horned antelope, it is so 

 unique and peculiar that it has been necessary to create for 

 it a grand division of classification which it occupies all 

 alone. The antelope is only a Family, but this fish is a 

 whole Order. Its other English names are Mudfish, Bow- 

 fin, Grindle and Lawyer; and since Linmeus christened it 

 Amia calva in 1766, eleven other naturalists have given it 

 eleven other names in Latin. 



"The dogfish has an air-bladder that is divided into cells, 

 and is a half -developed lung. At intervals it ascends to the 

 surface of the water, gulps down a mouthful of air, just as 

 a turtle does, and descends again. If hindered from rising 

 when the time comes to take in a supply of fresh air, the 

 fish struggles violently, like a mammal about to be drowned ; 



