The Fishes of our Boyhood 113 



ing, slate-colored shape. The fate ever was the 

 same. The cord was cut, and into the fire went 

 the hapless puppy. This creature, by the way, is 

 a most repulsive-looking water-lizard. His four 

 stumpy legs, heavy body, apparent lack of eyes, and 

 bunches of external gills were neither understood 

 nor appreciated by his captors. He was " pizen," 

 and no respect was due those who rightly claimed 

 he was harmless. He would bite, or at least try 

 to, for never, to my knowledge, was he allowed even 

 half a chance to illustrate his capacity in that direc- 

 tion. His appearance was quite sufficient. Peace 

 be to his ashes ! for he suffered much. 



A lamprey, too, could cause quite a commotion. 

 This creature the boys never could understand, and 

 they were more or less afraid of it. At rare inter- 

 vals, one was seen attached by its sucker mouth to 

 a bass. The lamprey, or " lamper-eel," may once 

 have been considered a delicacy, but the boys would 

 have none of it. It might have killed an uncertain 

 king, but it would kill no positively certain boy if he 

 saw it first. This eel was from a foot to a foot and 

 a half long, and possessed a circular, sucking mouth, 

 with a palate well supplied with small, sharp teeth. 

 Behind the mouth, upon either side, were seven 

 small openings, which greatly puzzled the boys. 



I have more than once seen bass thrashing about 

 with one of these suckers firmly attached, and the 

 fish's actions either indicated pain or a deadly fear 

 of its comrade. One bass which I shot, and from 

 which I detached the lamprey, showed an ugly-look- 

 ing raw spot where the sucker had been. I have 

 seen many bass bearing similar marks. Once, when 



