334 AN ANGLER'S RAMBLES 



which in that material alone is annually incurred by the use of 

 the horse-hair imp or tippet, as the snood is termed in Scotland, 

 say, through the substitution of gimp or prepared wire ? Being 

 viviparous, the hoe or dog-fish cannot be set down as a prolific 

 breeder, but it is gregarious in its habits, and the numbers which 

 for predatory purposes occasionally assemble off our British 

 shores are astonishing. There appears on some parts of the 

 coast a strong prejudice against the flesh of the dog-fish as an 

 article of food. In others it is made use of chiefly in a dried 

 or salted state. I have tasted it, not as treated by the fisher- 

 men, but fresh, and found it quite palatable, more so than that 

 of the wolf-fish or sea-cat, which was served at table on the 

 same occasion, and by some pronounced excellent meat, not- 

 withstanding the forbidding and ferocious appearance of the 

 animal. 



In many of the small harbours appertaining to the fishing vil- 

 lages on our coasts, the wasteful, disgusting, and unhealthy 

 practice prevails, in clearing the herring-nets, of throwing the 

 dogs and diseased fiah overboard among the moorings, and allow- 

 ing them to float to and fro in the tideway, and accumulate on 

 the beach in large quantities, vitiating both air and water. I 

 have noticed this particularly of late years in connexion with 

 Eyemouth and Holy Island, and it excites my surprise that 

 such a practice should receive no attention from the Fishery 

 Board, or fail to be dealt with by this or other commission. 

 Looking upon them in an economical point of view, these fish, 

 if regularly collected and stowed away in an appropriate depot, 

 could readily be converted into valuable manure, and be made, 

 with little trouble, a source of increased revenue to the fishermen 

 themselves as a community. 



