84 PLAGUE OF DOG-FISH. [PART I. 
find their way far up into the larger lochs,) with 
several other species, “quos nunc describere lon- 
gum est.” Nurse are not generally considered 
very good for the table, but I met last year a 
gentleman who told me “in confidence,’ that he 
considered them, as a foundation for soup, better 
than any other fish, adding that from their being 
held in slight estimation by others he generally 
managed to get on easy terms those which were 
caught in his neighbourhood. I hope he won’t be 
angry with me for “blowing on” his secret. 
Last spring (1858) the North West coast of 
Scotland was visited by a plague of Dog-fish, 
which swarmed in such inconceivable numbers that 
the ordinary deep sea-fishing was rendered almost 
entirely nugatory, much to the injury of the poor 
fishermen, who in great measure rely upon the 
produce of this occupation for their living. It 
was perfectly useless to set long lines, for only 
the Skeletons of the Cod, &c. were brought up, 
the voracious Dog-fish having torn them to pieces 
and picked their bones on the hooks. It was in- 
deed as much as they could do, even when fishing 
with hand-lines, to bring any to the surface before 
pieces had been bitten out of them. I have been 
told of an instance where a fisherman hauled in 
