142 FISH. 



ingly voracious, eating any kind of fish, mollusc, or 

 Crustacea they can catch, and so very strong are 

 their jaws, that they can crack to pieces the shell 

 of a crab or lobster in a moment with the greatest 

 ease. They produce their young at the end of 

 spring and during the summer in curious horny 

 cases very like those of the sharks. Children on 

 the coast find the cases and call them purses; 

 these fish are always best in season as food during 

 the autumn and winter, when a very great quantity 

 is consumed in London; crimped skate being a 

 fashionable dish. The majority sent to market 

 are taken by the trawlers in deep water, if 

 fished for with lines, when hooked they show a 

 most determined fight. A very amusing way of 

 catching them is with a strong kind of spiller 

 known by the name of the " Ray Spiller ;" this 

 baited with pieces of pilchard is sure to capture a 

 great number during August, September, and 

 October, if set of an evening, and pulled again 

 after being down some hours. 



