PRIME AND OFFAL in 



most attractive and finds a ready sale in centres where 

 fishing is not an industry. Another marine animal of 

 unattractive aspect, which in its unadorned condition has 

 practically no market value, is the skate. This fish ranks 

 as offal, and in some districts even the poorest people will 

 not touch it, although in certain parts of foreign lands 

 the flesh is greatly esteemed. Fishermen, as a rule, will 

 not on any consideration eat the animal,and if the reasons 

 they give for their refusals are correct, it is no cause for 

 wonder that they will not consume it in any shape or 

 form. In a restaurant for which the caterers are an im- 

 portant West End firm I saw on the bill of fare recently, 

 " Skate, 6d." The price was reasonable for a fish- 

 course ; yet that very day, at Billingsgate, skate was 

 being sold at sixpence a stone ! Assuming that at the 

 restaurant a portion of the fish weighed 4 oz., the retail 

 selling price was fifty-six times that of the wholesale 

 price! The same proportion prevails with respect to 

 many other kinds of fish, especially the offal ; but for 

 the prime sorts there is not such a great difference. On 

 behalf of a very large firm of caterers who buy enormous 

 quantities of fish, it was stated in a law case not long 

 ago that the average price paid for fish, wholesale, was 

 less than a penny a pound. 



In dealing with halibut, Buckland recorded that the 

 week before he visited Grimsby a halibut was sold for 

 ^"3, I2s. 6d., and that in February 1874 an immense 

 halibut was brought to the London market. This fish 

 was 6 ft. 3 in. long, 3 ft. 1 1 in. wide, and weighed nearly 

 2 cwt. About the same time he made an outline in 

 linen of a huge skate which measured 6 ft. 10 in. long 

 with the tail, and was 5 ft. 3 in. wide. I saw recently, 



