AMPHIBIA AND REPTILES AS FOOD 



535 



of over $45,000,000 a year. Cod fishing also forms an important 

 industry, over 7000 men being employed and over $30,000,000 of 

 codfish being taken each year in this country. 



Practical Exercise 15. Make a list of the different fishes found in a local 

 market. Get and record price per pound in a column opposite name of fish. 

 In a third column give approximate distance of local market from source of 

 production. In fourth column give your reasons for price per pound of given 

 fish. 



How do fish compare in economic importance with other animals used as 

 food in your locality ? 



Amphibia and reptiles as food. Frogs live in streams and 

 ponds in all sections of the eastern part of the United States and 

 along the Mississippi 

 valley. They are used 

 to a great extent for 

 food as their large hind 

 legs are esteemed a 

 great delicacy. Certain 

 reptiles, as the iguana, 

 a lizard-like animal, are 

 used as food by people 

 of other nations. Many 

 of the edible salt-water 

 turtles are of large size, 

 the leatherback and the 

 green turtle often 

 weighing six hundred 

 to seven hundred 

 pounds each. The flesh 

 of the green turtle and 

 of the diamond-back 

 terrapin, an animal found in the salt marshes along our south- 

 eastern coast, is highly esteemed as food. Unfortunately for the 

 preservation of the species, these animals are usually taken dur- 

 ing the breeding season when they go to sandy beaches to lay 

 their eggs. 



Practical Exercise 16. What amphibia or reptiles in your part of the 

 country are used as food? 



Ewing Gallouuy 



This fishwheel is typical of many found along the Colum- 

 bia River. Fifteen tons of salmon have been caught by 

 such a wheel in one day. The fish in swimming upstream 

 strike wire nets attached to the rim of the wheel, which in 

 turning raises them in the air and throws them into the 

 boats which are fastened near by. 



