186 Thirty-Third Annual Meeting 
the glue could be manufactured. Why shouldn’t the dogfish and the 
skate be as good to eat as the haddock or halibut, and much better 
than the lobster? They are particular what they eat, live bait suit- 
ing them better than anything else, a marked contrast to the lobster, 
which is the scavenger of the sea—the more rotten and putridits 
food the better. 
In his conversation the gentleman said he thought it was merely 
a matter of superstition that the dogfish was looked upon with so 
much aversion, and this superstition could be traced back to the 
old Jewish law referring to clean and unclean animals, and no doubt 
there is considerable truth in it. However, there is no question but 
that there are far more edible varieties of fish than the Eastern 
Canada, fishermen think, but prejudices are sometimes hard to over- 
come. At any rate, it would pay to do a little experimenting. 
Mr. Atkins: I have a correspondent in the town of Prospect, 
Me., who has told me about setting a trawl in the river and catch- 
ing a great number of skates, and finding their stomachs full of 
young lobsters. 
Dr. Smith: These dogfish investigations now going on at 
Woods Hole were started by me two years ago, and I think the 
young man who has the matter in charge will get some very im- 
portant results. The dogfish was surreptitiously served at the 
large mess-room at Woods Hole last year. 
Mr. Clark: When we were there ? 
Dr. Smith: Whether you had a part in that I don’t know. 
(Laughter.) The matron of the mess was told to say that it was 
Japanese halibut. 
President: 1 had some of it. (Laughter. ) 
Dr. Smith: The fish met with great favor and many people 
asked for the second helping. When the matron was asked what 
the fish was she forgot herself and said Japanese nightingale. 
(Laughter.) The flesh of the dogfish is decidedly palatable, not 
at all greasy or soft. I believe the prejudice against the dogfish 
is the prejudice which is shared by the shark family, and I think 
it is entirely unfounded. 
J will call attention to a little item which shows the value of 
sharks in one of our states. In the Charleston, South Carolina, 
market sharks are skinned and cut into strips and sold in bunches 
