FISH AND FISHING. 



POISONOUS MUSSELS. 



Some years ago, while encamped at the 

 mouth of Rhodes creek, a tributary of 

 Green river, Kentucky, I had my first and 

 only experience with the mussel as a food. 

 Time and again I had heard that this bi- 

 valve as found in the creeks and rivers of 

 Kentucky and contiguous States was not 

 fit for food, but I had never heard it was 

 poisonous. 



While running one of my trot lines I 

 found several mussels hanging to the 

 baited hooks, and resolved to try a mess 

 of mussels "baked in the shell." I cov- 

 ered them with hot ashes and coals, and 

 when they showed by their widely gaping 

 valves that they were done to a turn, but- 

 ter, salt and pepper were added to them, 

 and I sat me down to feast. I managed to 

 eat one, and, as matters turned out, it was 

 fortunate for me that my palate rebelled 

 as soon as it did. 



The creature was decidedly tough, and 

 tasted tnuddy and slimy. I imagined its 

 flavor was like that of an old pair of boots 

 that had rested on the bottom of the creek 

 a year or so. I had never eaten any boots, 

 but my imagination did not take that fact 

 into consideration; it simply declared that 

 a baked mussel, to the palate, was the 

 same as a baked boot, old and water- 

 logged! 



About two hours after eating the mussel 

 a pang shot through me. This pang was 

 followed by other pangs until I writhed ' 

 on the ground in agony. Finally, I began 

 to vomit, and, so violent were my efforts, 

 that the bottom of my stomach at times 

 seemed to touch the back of my 

 lips! Emesis was followed by a copious 

 diarrhoea, which left me weak and tremu- 

 lous for the balance of the day. I have 

 never eaten another mussel! 



THREE FORMS OF MUSSEL POISONING. 



Acording to Professor Vaughan, of the 

 University of Michigan, there are 3 

 forms of mussel poisoning. The first is 

 known as Mytilotoxismus gastricus, in which 

 the symptoms are like those of cholera 

 morbus. This was the form in which I 

 was attacked, as described above. 



The second form is known as Mytilotox- 

 ismus exanthematicus, "on account of visible 

 changes in the skin." The first symptom 

 of this form of poisoning is a sensation 

 of heat in the eyelids which spreads over 

 the face and, finally, over the entire body. 

 An eruption, which is accompanied by an 

 almost insupportable itching, then makes 

 its appearance. "In severe cases the breath- 



43 



ing becomes labored, the face grows livid, 

 consciousness is lost, and death may result 

 within 2 or 3 days." 



Says Professor Vaughn in November 

 Appleton's Popular Science Monthly: "The 

 most frequently observed form of mussel 

 poisoning is that designated as Mytilotox- 

 ismus paralyticus. As early as 1827 Combe 

 reported his observations on 30 persons 

 who had suffered from this kind of mussel 

 poisoning. The first symptoms, as a rule, 

 appeared within 2 hours after eating the 

 poisonous food. Some suffered from 

 nausea and vomiting, but these were not 

 constant or lasting symptoms. All com- 

 plained of a prickly feeling in the hands, 

 heat and constriction in the throat, diffi- 

 culty of swallowing and speaking, numb- 

 ness about the mouth, gradually extending 

 over the face to the arms, with great de- 

 bility of the limbs. Most of the sufferers 

 were unable to stand; the action of the 

 heart was feeble, and the face grew pale 

 and expressed much anxiety. Two of the 

 30 cases terminated fatally." 



EDIBLE MUSSELS. 



It was supposed at first — indeed, Virchow 

 attempted to prove — that there was a dis- 

 tinct poisonous species of this shellfish. 

 This, however, has been demonstrated to 

 be a fallacy. All mussels are edible at 

 certain times, presumably during the win- 

 ter months. This, however, has not been 

 demonstrated as a scientific fact, although 

 the evidence is decidedly in its favor. It 

 is said that this bivalve is doubly poison- 

 ous during oviposition, and this would ac- 

 count for my serious attack. The creatures 

 were full of eggs at the time I made my 

 experiment. On the whole, fishermen 

 should shun the mussel. At best it is not 

 at all palatable, and when it is poisonous 

 it is very much so. 



THE BOY AND THE BISHOP, 

 It happened at Bay View, which is one 

 of the greatest Methodist summer resorts 

 in the world. They make strenuous ef- 

 forts there to teach the young idea how to 

 shoot on all occasions, and to fish on week 

 days only. 



One beautiful Sunday, after church ser- 

 vice, and Sunday school, and all the pious 

 entertainments were over, some little cot- 

 ton-mouth carried consternation into the 

 camp of the sanctified by reporting that a 

 crowd of boys were down under the dock 

 fishing! A committee of clergymen, 

 headed by an aged and prominent bishop. 



