36 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



ituml j§istorg. 



t 



THE GURNARD AS AN EDIBLE FISH. 



AMONG the fish that may be classed as edible, but 

 which are entirely neglected here, is the Sea Bobin, 

 grunter, or gurnard. This curious, but rather forbidding- 

 creature, is, in reality, one of the most delicate morsels 

 that can be laid before an epicure, the flesh being snow- 

 white, firm, and fully as good as that of the king-fish or 

 whiting. In fact, it would be hard to distinguish them 

 when placed on the table. 



In Europe every one of the various kinds of Trigla, or 

 gurnard family, is sought after eagerly, and finds a ready 

 sale on the fish-stalls. They have eight or ten kinds of the 

 group there, and we have but six here, all but one differ- 

 ent from the European- kinds, though belonging to the 

 same family. We shall not attempt to describe all these 

 fish, which resemble each other very much in all but the 

 color. They all have large heads, sheathed with rough, 

 bony plates, and armed with many acute points, and their 

 dorsal fin has also several sharp, thorny rays. These 

 prickles are all erected by the fish when taken alive, and 

 they inflict painful, though not, as many say, a poisonous 

 wound. The broad mouth is furnished with rough, but 

 not sharp teeth, the pectoral fins in most of the species are 

 very long, and can be expanded like a fan, whence they 

 are sometimes called flying-fish and butterfly fish. It is 

 . doubtful, however, whether they can actually fly like a fly- 

 ing-fish ; but they have been said to skip from wave to 

 wave, a peculiarity often alluded to by habientic poets. 



They also emit a grunting sound, which can be distinctly 

 heard in still weather while lying at anchor on a shal- 

 low, which they frequent. At such a time the sound re- 

 sembles the distant lowing of kine. When freshly taken 

 from the water they grunt quite loudly, whence their popu- 

 lar name of grunter or ouelwo fish. 



The gurnards live on -crabs and. delicate fresh food, tak- 

 ing all such baits readily, on a clean bottom, and they some- 

 times annoy fishermen hugely by their voracity. They play 

 well on the hook, and a large one tugging at a rod is often 

 supposed to be a game fish and a prize, till the ugly sea 

 robin, with his spiky helmet, shows himself at the sur- 

 face. 



The gurnards of our coasts do not reach a large size, at 

 least we have but rarely seen any that weighed over a 

 pound, while in Europe some of the species, such as the 

 Tub fish (Trigla hirmido) has been found, weighing eleven 

 pounds, and those of seven or eight are common. The 

 . red gurnard or rotchet (T. cuculus) and the piper (T. lyra) 

 reach three or four pounds, averaging about two, while the 

 other European kinds resemble ours as to size. 



Small as our species are, they are not the less delicate 

 when cooked, and we have often verified this fact. 



They are sold in England by the number, and not by 

 weight, for their large heads are inedible, while thev add, 

 perhaps, one-quarter to their weight, 



The English fishermen take them almost everywhere, 

 along the coast in large trawl nets, constructed for their 

 capture, though other bottom fish may find their way into 

 the net. These trawls are generally twelve or sixteen feet 

 wide at the mouth, with aghag proportioned to their beam, 

 which has one or two labyrinths like a fyke net inside. 

 The trawl is managed from a large sail-boat with a block 

 and tackle, and is hauled in water as deep as eight or ten 

 fathoms. 



We do not recommend this special fishery to our coast 

 fishermen, as our gurnards are small ; but wish only to call 

 attention to the edible qualities of this generally despised 



fish. 



Piscator (the anonymous author of the Practical Angler), 

 in his excellent little treatise, entitled "Fish; How to 

 Choose and How to Dress," published in 1848, says of the 

 gurnard, that their flesh is "white, exceedingly firm, and 

 shells out into snowy flakes, and is of a remarkably agree- 

 able flavor, and that they keep well." He recommends 

 them to be boiled— that is, the large ones— while the small 

 ones may be split and fried. 



We have no popular names for each of the species that 

 are found in our waters. All are called sea robins, flying -fish, 

 grunters, &c. 



The Trigla cuculus is the only one of the genus enumer- 

 ated by Professor Theodore Gill, in his catalogue of the 

 " Fishes of the Eastern Coast of North America, &c." This 

 one may be the same as the European species, but a closer 

 comparison of them is needed before this can be affirmed. 

 This is the true sea robin, being the only one that is red like 

 its feathery and distant relative. The other species of 

 Trigla named in the above catalogue belong to the genus 

 Prionotus, but the distinction is a slight one. Of these 

 Gill names five species, which it would be useless to quote 



here. 



Havinc drawn attention to this first as one that deserves a 

 place on our tables, we leave his fate hereafter to the ten- 

 der care of a good cook and a discerning palate. 



J. C. Bkevoort. 

 — -+*+- 



Tub Seal a Gourmand.— If the sense of smell is ex- 

 ceedingly acute in the seal his taste for food may be judged 

 by thc~keeness with which he relishes his food. "The 

 mouth of the greatest gourmand," says Cuvier, "never 

 waters more at the prospect of a rich repast than of 

 the seal when in expectation of its common sustenance. 

 A copious saliva fiUs and flows from its mouth during deg- 

 lutition, and not less so the moment the seal perceives its 

 prey." 



Fish Protection ih China. — What a good people the 

 Chinese are. If they do roast a missionary occasionally, 

 they preserve the fish laws. Let us have some mandarins 

 at the head of our Fish Commissions. Listen to the worthy 

 actions of the Chinese in regard to fish : — 



Some 1222 years before the christian era, an Em- 

 peror of China had expressed a desire to go a-flsh- 

 ing with his consort, It was then the fourth moon— the 

 spawning season. One of his chief ministers, rejoicing in 

 the name of Tchangsj^pe, threw himself on his knees before 

 his majesty, and showed him that by carrying out his pro- 

 posal he would violate one of the most important laws of 

 the kingdom, and would have heavy accounts to render to 

 history for setting the example which might cause the ruin 

 of the public resources of food in the shape of fish. ' ' You 

 are right," answered the emperor; "he to whom heaven 

 has confided the Government of a people must conform to 

 the laws of the country and watch over the interests of his 

 subjects, otherwise he is not fit to reign. " Another emperor 

 had set «ut fishing once during the close time in one of the 

 ponds belonging to the place, when one of his councillors, 

 named Lyke, came quietly up and cut the net in pieces be- 

 fore his astonished sovereign's eyes, explaining, in answer 

 to the imperial threats and angry demands for his reason 

 for so acting, that he was merely fulfilling the duties impos- 

 ed on him by the law. This brave minister, we need hardly 

 add, was, of course, richly rewarded by the erring but 

 repentant emperor. 



Snakes Swallowing their Young. — A correspondent 

 of the New York Tribune, writes as follows : 



When about twelve years of age, I met a small snake 

 about two feet long, on a dusty road in Central New York, 

 whose singular motions at my approach attracted my atten- 

 tion. When within a few feet of it, I discovered four little 

 ones, five or six inches long, hurrying towards the large one, 

 and one by one disappearing in its widely opened jaws. 

 The old .snake then attempted escape, running toward the 

 side of the road, by which ran a small brook. My curiosity 

 being excited, I killed the reptile, and cutting it open found 

 the little ones ^coiled up in some kind of cavity, (I cannot 

 say what, for *at that age few boys have much idea of anat- 

 omy.) The little fellows being thus rudely turned out at- 

 tempted to effect a hasty escape, I am not certain whether 

 it was an ordinary striped or a water snake. 



— "The Hon. Thomas James Bernard, member of the 

 Council, has related to me a very curious fact of the yellow 

 snake. Lately his laborers in the Pedro mountain district, 

 St. Ann's, killed a yellow snake containing some ten or 

 twelve grown young ones varying from eight to ten inches 

 in length. The negroes expressed their surprise at this cir- 

 cumstance, because they knew that this boa produced its 

 young from eggs. A phenomenon like this was well calcu- 

 lated to call forth from negroes their usual 'golly' of 

 surprise, but it should have excited in intelligent observers 

 and professional naturalists some other idea than that 

 snakes have a ' local option' in bringing forth their young, 

 by eggs hatched in the ground, or by incubation, or by 

 1 bearing them alive.' Mr. Hill timidly ventures the re- 

 mark, ' Is this to be received as a case of snakes that retire 

 upon alarm into the mouth and stomach of the parent ?' It 

 is stated of the rattlesnake in ' ' Hunter's Memoirs of. a 

 Captivity among the North American Indians," that, when 

 alarmed, the young ones, which are generally eight or ten 

 in number, retreat into the mouth of the parent, and re- 

 appear on its giving a contractile muscular token that the 

 danger is past. Credible eye-witnesses say the same of the 

 European viper. (See Charlesworth's Mag. Nat. His., Vol. 

 I., new series, 1887, p. 441.)" 



♦ 



Katonah, WesTCHBSTEK Co., September 11, 1873. 



Editor Forest and Stream :— 



Yesterday, when walking through my fields, I was attracted by the 

 vigorous barking of my dog, and noticed that a huge frog was exciting 

 his ire. Calling the dog off I secured the frog, and taking it by the leg, 

 was about carrying it to a pond in the place, when I observed something 

 hanging from his mouth. Taking what seemed to me to be the tail of 

 some creature, between my fingers, from out. of his mouth, I extracted a 

 very large field mouse, fully three inches long. I was not before aware 

 that frogs would prey on mice. 



Seeiag Professor Goode Brown's inquiries in regard to snakes swallow- 

 ing their young, I beg to add that, two years ago, while picking berries, 

 I observeda black snake, fully four feet, long, near rne, which on my ap- 

 proach made for the bushes. With a stick in one hand, the other en- 

 gaged in picking berries, I kept on at my occupation, when suddenly the 

 snake made a dash at me. Expecting an attack, I struck at her as she 

 sprung, and with a blow of my stick, almost cut her in two. Imagine my 

 surprise when I saw five or six small snakes, about as large as rye straws, 

 inside of her. They presently emerged from the body of the snake, and 

 took to the grass. I killed two, but the rest being quitelively, escaped. 

 Yours very truly, j. \y. A 

 ♦ 



—A new and important fact in silk culture has been de- 

 veloped by the Acclimation Society of France, namely : 

 That silk of varied color can be produced by feeding the 

 silkworm on different leaves. Worms fed on vine leaves 

 produce a silk of magnificent red color. Lettuce has been 

 found to produce an emerald-green colored silk. Of course, 

 then, if fed on the leaves of the indigo plant the product 

 would be indigo blue. 



—A farmer in Washington county, Ky., has found a 

 practical use for a snake. For two years he has had one 

 shut up in his corn-crib, and during all that time not a live 

 mouse has been seen there. 



—A man in Fayette county, Pa. , while gathering black- 

 berries, heard a rattlesnake's peculiar note of warning, and 

 looked around on all sides before discovering that he was 

 standimg with both feet on the reptile, but so close to its 

 head that it could not bite him. 



—In Ireland, with less than 5, 400, 000 inhabitants, the 

 two shillings Mcence duty was paid in 1872 on 290,796 dogs. 

 The British government will not object to the continuance 

 of this grievous tale so long as the Treasury is benefitted 

 by this tax on a nation of wags. 



—Lester B. Piatt, a Yale divinity student, who has been 

 spending his vacation on the western plains, accepted an 

 invitation to hunt with the Pawnees, and was with them 

 when they were attacked by the Sioux recently on the 

 plains and so many of them slaughtered. Piatt fought 

 bravely, but was captured. He Wore the Pawnee dress, 

 and would have been scalped, but the Sioux chief forbade 

 it, and, pointing to the Republican river; bade him ran for 

 hi* life. He did, and saved it - 



The Fox-hotjnd.— The fox-hound, of all dogs used in 

 the field, is by far the most numerous. It is generally sun 

 posed that the modern fox-hound derives its origin from 

 the old English hound, and its various points of perfectioi 

 from judicious crosses with other breeds. There are various 

 breeds of dogs which are remarkable for the great develop- 

 ment of some peculiar faculty— such as speed in the grey- 

 hound, courage in the bull-dog, delicacy of scent in the 

 bloodhound, sagacity in the poodle, &c. , so when a breed 

 of dogs begins to fail in any of these points the fault is 

 amended by the introduction of a dog belonging to the 

 breed which exhibits the needful quality in greatest perfec- 

 tion. The fox-hound has not only the greatest sagacity 

 and the most refined powers of scrutiny, but is far superior 

 in bottom and stoutness to any other breed of the hound 

 race. Only consider the immense distance a hound travels 

 over during the many hours that he is frequently absent 

 from home. The country he travels over is generally of 

 the very roughest description, such as sharp rocks, scrub- 

 oak;, brambles, &c, -and he frequently takes to the water 

 For the authenticity of the following anecdote we think we 

 may safely vouch: — "Mr. Phillips, of Bergen Point, has a 

 singularly fine old dog. He had been hunting with a friend 

 of his in New Jersey, and the hound had been running a 

 dog-fox nearly all day, when at last the hound turned him 

 toward water; the varmint, instead of taking to water, 

 however, ran up a branch of an old dead tree that was 

 overhanging the stream, the hound waiting a second or i v, q 

 as if undetermined what to do. In an instant he jumped 

 on the but of the tree, and, walking up carefully, the limb 

 snapped, and both fox and dog fell into the water. Now 

 came the struggle for life. The hound rose to the surface 

 first, and immediately espied the fox, who was swimming 

 for dear life to the other side; the hound turned on the fox, 

 both going down together. The hound again rose first to 

 the surface, and once more, making a kind of leap in tin 

 water, seized the fox by the back of the neck, and held 

 him there until he had absolutely drowned him, and then 

 swam ashore, bringing the dead fox with him, to the utter 

 astonishment of Mr. Phillips and his friend, who witnessed 

 this curious scene from the shore." The best breed for fox- 

 shooting is the English fox-hound, crossed with the Amer- 

 ican hound. The English-bred hound is too delicate. The 

 ground you ride over and the ground you shoot over are 

 totally different. The English dog is too finely bred to suit 

 our rocky ground ; its pace is too fast, as, unless it runs in 

 the open, it is apt to overrun the scent. A dog running at 

 thirty miles an hour cannot be expected to hold the scent 

 as strongly as one running at fifteen miles an hour. The 

 speed wdiich can be a attained by fox-hounds may he esti- 

 mated from the well-known match which took place upon 

 the Beacon course at Newmiarket, England. The length 

 of the course is four miles and 352 yards, and this distance 

 was run by the winning dog, Bluecap, in eight minutes and 

 a few seconds. The famous racehorse Flying Childers, in 

 running over the same ground, was little more than half a 

 minute ahead of the hound. Now, if w^e compare the di- 

 mensions of the horse and the hound we shall form a toler- 

 ably accurate idea of the extraordinary speed to which the 

 latter animal can attain. In the match no less than sixty 

 horses started, together with the competitors, but of the 

 sixty only twelve were with the dogs at the end of this short 

 run. The English hound is of the utmost importance to our 

 fox-shooting friends, as what they require in a hound is a good 

 nose, hard feet, padded with a thick sole, strong propelling- 

 powers behind, and more endurance than excessive speed, 

 not forgetting a musical tongue, which can only be attained 

 by the cross of the American hound with the English. As 

 there has been so much breeding "in-and-in," and very lit- 

 tle fresh stock imported, the fox-hound is sadly deteriorat- 

 ing, as we only hear of a few instances of fresh blood. In 

 the South they have some splendid new blood, which they 

 have crossed with the southern fox-hound, and have pro- 

 duced the perfection of a hound for their purposes. The 

 best breeds of fox-hounds in the North are owned in Buf- 

 falo; Guernsey county, Ohio; Mr. Taylor's Connecticut 

 farm; the Leatherstocking Club, of Oswego; and the Bloom- 

 ing Grove Park Association. The latter have two hitches, 

 crossed by a Connecticut dog, and the whelps, if properly 

 trained, will undoubtedly come as near perfection as pos- 

 sible. 



♦ 



—There is a knowing dog (and a "yaller" one at that) in 

 Washington who complies with the letter, but not exactly 

 with the spirit, of the law in relation to muzzling canines 

 during the dog days. He is never without a muzzle, hut 

 instead of wearing it strapped over his nose, as other dogs 

 do, he carries it in his mouth, and is never seen on the 

 street without it. When he halts forest he drops it be- 

 tween his fore legs, but wdienever he starts he picks it up 

 and jogs along quietly, looking as if he would say to all 

 policemen, "lam a law-abiding Tray; as you see, I have 

 a muzzle ; so please don't molest me. " When he is at home 

 he deposits his muzzle in his kennel, but whenever he is 

 going out walking with his master or any of the family lie 

 goes regularly and gets his muzzle, and it is never neces- 

 sary to 'remind him of it, Smart dog that, He is a gooa- 

 uatured old fellow, too, and doesn't bark like Kelly s no^\ 

 famous cur. He don't belong to that breed of dogs. 

 Washington Star. 



♦ 



—We weighed a day or so ago a puppy, twelve weeks 

 old, a cross between a mastiff and a Pomeranian dog, and 

 he turned the scales at fifty-two pounds; We think this 

 weight is hard to beat 



