FOOD FEOM THE MOLLUSCA AND EADIATA. 439 



manner last mentioned. They too were savoury, but 

 the sliminess of the tentacles was somewhat disagree- 

 able. They are far less substantial, in proportion to 

 their apparent size, than the actiniae, little indeed remain- 

 ing but a mass of tentacles. When Dr. Johnston speaks 

 of the hot and peppery Anthea, I presume he glances 

 at its urticating properties, for there is no pungency in 

 its taste." 



Puiris, a species of Actinia, with hard membranous 

 cover, is eaten, the inner body being only used. It is 

 allowed to soak twelve hours before being eaten. 



Sea ears, barnacles (Balanus), Lithodomus, sea urchins, 

 and Actinia, are eaten in Chili. 



During the Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia in 

 1876, the American Fish Culturists' Association gave a 

 fish dinner, at which the choicest international deli- 

 cacies and rarities of fish preparations were served to 

 a meeting of connoisseurs. 



The second annual dinner of the Ichthyophagous 

 Club, held on the 28th May, 1881, was a complete suc- 

 cess, not only as a social gathering, but for the more im- 

 portant and practical object of developing hitherto 

 neglected varieties of fish for human consumption. 



Among the company, which numbered nearly one 

 hundred guests, were men distinguished in the world 

 of artSj of letters, and of science, and not a few who 

 are deeply versed in the mysteries of the ocean. It is 

 thus described by Mr. A. W. Roberts in the Scientific 

 American : " The tables were ornamented with flowering 

 plants, and designs composed of materials collected from 

 the sea, the most noteworthy being a pyramid, twenty 

 feet high, consisting of the empty shells of the horseshoe 

 crabs, between which were introduced sharks' fins and 

 sea robins' heads {Prionotm sp.). 



" While the gathering was naturally social in its 

 character, the practical result accomplished was the 

 utilizing for food of certain fishes which have been con- 

 sidered the very refuse of the ocean. Strange and 

 repulsive-looking creatures were served up during the 



