THE HAG-PISHES. 681 



" Previous to the building of the dam over the Housatonic at Birmingham, Lampreys were taken 

 in large quantities as far up the river as the falls in the town of New Milford ; now none are seen 

 above the dam. Then, standing over the falls on shelving rocks, one could hook them, as they 

 clung to the rocks with their suckers, by means of a large sharp hook fastened to a long pole, this 

 hook being imbedded in the holes in the sides of their necks. Many people formerly salted barrels 

 of them for their own consumption. Their use at present has much decreased, owing to the dis- 

 turbance in the fisheries caused by the building of the dams. Those now used iu the vicinity of 

 Bridgewater are taken in the Housatonic at Birmingham, and during the months of May and June 

 are peddled through the country by the people who catch them." 



Mr. N. M. Muckett, of Lakeville, Connecticut, states that in that vicinity the annual average 

 catch is about two thousand fish, the implement of capture used being a pole about six feet in 

 length with a hook in its end. The fisheries are located in Salmon Eiver about two miles from the 

 Connecticut, just above tide- water, and the Lampreys sell in the markets of the adjoining villages 

 at an average price of five dollars a hundred. 



Mr. M. A. Hart, of Eiverton, Connecticut, says that thirty years ago, and before, Lampreys 

 were found in the Parmington Eiver in the vicinity of Eiverton, but have long ago been exhausted. 

 Quantities are sold in the city markets of Southern Connecticut, chiefly obtained in the Connecticut 

 Eiver in spring and early summer. They are easily caught with the hands, and fishermen captur- 

 ing them in this way always use mittens.^ 



Mr. C. M. Hunt, of Northville, Connecticut, states that in Ifew Milford large quantities are 

 consumed in May and June which are caught in the Housatonic at Birmingham. Before the dam 

 was built they were caught everywhere in the Housatonic and the small streams which are its 

 tributaries. 



203 THE HAG-FISHES— MYXINID.a:. 



The " Slime Eel," Myxine glutinosa, is found on the Atlantic coast north of Cape Cod, and in 

 the deeper water even further south. It occurs also on the coasts of Northern Europe. It is a 

 great annoyance to the fishermen, whose baits it devours, and who entertain for it a superstitious 

 dread. Little is known of its habits, and its importance to man is very slight. Jordan writes : 



"The Hag-fishes {Myxinidce) are represented along the California coast by one species, Poli- 

 stotrema Stouti. It is most abundant in Monterey Bay, where it is very destructive to fishes caught 



' The Hartford (Conn.) "Post,'' in June, 1876, contained the following paragraph: 



"Curious habits of Lamprey Eels. — Two gentlemen from Gran by, Connecticut, Messrs. Dewey and Good- 

 rich, were in town last week on a visit, and took away with them on their return one hundred and ten Lamprey Eels, 

 which they captured in the creeks hereabout. Tlie Eels were all of good size, sixty-two of them weighing one hun- 

 dred pounds. These Eels are esteemed to be a great delicacy by the people of Granby and neighborhood, and are 

 held to be worth twelve cents apiece, or they ofifer to exchange a barrel of pork for a barrel of cured Eels. The 

 method of taking these Eels is quite novel. They are found only in shallow water, with stony or gravelly bottom, 

 and the fisherman goes provided with a large bag of netting, the mouth of the bag being distended with a hoop, and 

 an instrument of iron about eighteen inches long terminating in a hook. 



"The Eels have what are called nests, made by heaping up stones in a circle of about eighteen inches in diameter. 

 These stones they place in this position by fastening their sucker mouths thereon and moving themselves laterally, 

 drawing the stones along with them. Inside this circle of stones lie usually from three to five Eels, parallel with 

 one another, their heads all iu one direction and each Eel made fast by suction to a stone. The bold fisherman ap- 

 proaches them from behind, and, skillfully putting his hook under an Eel, he suddenly brings it up with such force 

 that it penetrates the hide, and brings out the fiah, when, after two or three flourishes in the air to get hiui in the 

 right position, he is deposited in the bag. Each Eel in the nest is in turn made the subject of a similar operation, 

 the creatures olten holding on to the stone with such tenacity as to bring it out of the water with them, when the 

 aerial flourish causes it to become detached and to fly to a considerable distance. 



"These Eels, it is said, are wholly free from bones save the backbone, which is removed in dressing, and when 

 salted for a few weeks and fried make an article of food second to none in the way of fish." 



