490 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Dec. 17, 1898. 
until the umbilicus was absorbed, and it gradually became 
a flattened, miniature skate. 
The smallest and most common of our Atlantic skates 
is the ''tobacco-box" (Raja erinacea) and it is spiny. 
Raia, or raja, is an old Latin name for an order of 
flat, cartilaginous fishes, allied to the sharks, but having 
the gill slits underneath, and includes the sawfish, the 
skates, the torpedoes, sting-rays and several more. As I 
don't wish to make this article so bloomin' scientific 
that no one will read it, I will try to avoid all the dry 
technicalities possible; but the nomenclature of science 
is necessary in order to determine which fish we are 
discussing, as fishermen's names differ. Now, the specific 
name, erinacea, has no reference to Erin's green isle, but 
to a hedgehog, because both are prickly; and there you 
are. As this little skate only grows to a length of i8in., 
and half of that is a long, slim tail, we can easily rec- 
a 
BARN-DOOR SKATE. 
From Fishery Industries. 
ognize it among its larger brethren. It has large spines 
on the front of the , pectorals, and smaller ones on the 
head and back; is light brown, with round dark spots. 
Some Scientific Explanations. 
Since writing .this, a friend, one of those inquisitive 
fellows who "want to know, you know," sat in my study 
and looked at the plate of a skate. Said he: "What you 
have said may be all true, but where are the pectoral 
fins? I only see two little fins away down on the end of 
the tail, which may pass muster as dorsal fins, but I 
am a sinner if I see any pectoral fins. Perhaps they 
are underneath; thev are the gill or lung fins, aren't 
they?" 
"Thanks, my boy; I was going too fast, and if what 
I have said is not plain to you it might not be to others, 
so I will explain. As you look at this picture of a barn- 
door skate you will see two great wing-like projections 
reaching. from the tip of its nose to the insertion of the 
tail; these are the pectoral fins, and now that you know 
this, just let me go on writing while you sit down to 
smoke and read." 
Our species- next in size grows to a length of 2ft, 
always allowing half the length for the tail, and is brown, 
with' dark bars and blotches. Its prickles are small 
and sharp, and from this feature it is named after the 
brier rose, R. eglanteria. It is not at all common, and 
many fishermen do not know it. 
Another species not very common is the R. radiata, 
which has a lot of large spines about its head, and a row 
of them extending down its back and tail, which are very 
strong: Once, while fishing near Gloucester, Mass., I 
brought in a large specimen of this fish, which in its 
THE SEA KAGLE, 
From Brookes' Fishes. 
struggles not only ripped my trousers and drawers from 
thigh to knee, but made some scratches on the covering 
which nature had furnished me that were sore for some 
time after. Further on I will speak of wounds by fish. 
Then we have what the fishermen call the ''big skate," 
the R. ocellatOj a name which means eye-spots, and this 
fish, though it grows to be 3ft. long, is not rhe largest 
skate, notwithstanding the fishermen's name. It is much 
like the little one first named, but is more thorny, having 
many rows of spines along the back and on the sides of 
the tail. The two largest spots on the rear of the pec- 
torals have a white ring with a dark center. This species 
is sometimes eaten. 
After naming one fish the ''big skate," and finding one 
that grows to o^tr 4ft., there wa.3 nu way to get out of 
it but' to call the last fellow "the barn-door skate." Be- 
ing comparatively smooth, the scientists called it R. 
Icevis, yet its back is not the slickest thing you ever 
rubbed your cheek against, and adown the tail there are 
a few briers that might chafe strong corduroy, especially 
on the back of the female, which in all this tribe is more 
strongly armed, The big barn-door has light spots, which 
have darker rings around them, and has the minimum 
rows of teeth. It was Mitchell who named this fish 
: 'smooth," but he would never have done so if he had 
once stepped on one with a bare foot, as I once did, while 
bathing ; I did not put on a shoe, nor foot on ground, for 
six long weeks, and at one time there was fear that the 
leg might be amputated. 
Poisoning from Fish Wounds. 
Be it known to all men that there is no fish which has 
poison sacs behind its teeth, as in the serpents, or hollow 
stings with a poison reservoir behind as the bees and 
some other insects have. All these poisons come from a 
hollow tooth, or sting, connected with a reservoir of 
venom. The mosquito and other insects have some 
similar way of poisoning our skins, but I don't know 
how they do it, as "I understand the injection of serpent 
and of stinging insects. The tooth or the sting is hollow 
almost to the point, which is entire. 
In wounds from fish, whether from the thorn on the tail 
of the sting-ray, called also "stingaree," the thorn of a 
catfish, or the prickly spines of the perch, it is the slimy 
covering of the spine which acts as any foreign matter 
under our skins will act; even as a sliver of wood will 
fester under the skin, so will fish slime fester and act 
as a poison, but the poison from the wood flows out 
with the pus after the sliver is removed, but poison 
from fish slime lasts longer. It is not necessary to be 
wounded by a fish in order to be poisoned in the hand; 
a fresh cut made by any instrument is easily poisoned 
if fish slime gets in it. This sort of poisoning does not 
seem to be dangerous, but it is painful, and I never 
tried any remedy for it; just let it run its course and 
heal. 
Capt. C. A. Moloney, C. M. G., in an article on West 
African Fisheries, one of the series published by tht 
International Fisheries Exhibition in London in 1883, 
says: "Rays — like to the Aetobatis (eagle ray) — known 
in France as Tantray, are plentiful. *' *' "* Native- 
are much afraid of the attacks of this fish, as the caudal 
spine has been found to be poisonous, and has inflicted 
FLORIDA SEA DEVIL. 
wounds which have proved fatal. Such wounds can be, 
it is said, successfully treated, when handled in time, by 
the natives, who use for the purpose the powdered 
caudal spine of like fish, mixed with certain leaves and 
herbs. 
"I have with me the caudal spine of a small sting-ray 
which was removed from the side of a fisherman at 
Quittah, Gold Coast. Six hours later the man was seen 
by one of the Colonial surgeons, when the wound pre- 
sented a very discolored, unhealthy appearance. The 
man died six days later from empyema, caused by the 
wound," 
Writing of the poison organs of certain fish, Dr. 
Gunther has said of the sting-rays : "Although they lack 
a special organ secreting poison, or a canal in or on the 
spine by which venomous fluid is conducted, the symp- 
toms caused by a wound from the spine of a sting-ray 
are such as cannot be accounted for merely by the 
mechanical laceration, the- pain being intense, and the 
subsequent inflammation and swelling of the wounded 
part terminating not rarely in gangrene." 
Here is a field for pathologists or toxicologists to 
work in. The subject has interested me from boyhood, 
when I had a thumb ripped open while taking a bull- 
head, alias catfish, from a hook, and mother poulticed 
that painful thumb for a week before the pain ceased 
and the wound began to heal; but that was a glorious 
week! I could not write nor use a slate pencil to figure 
out how many apples John would have left if he let 
William go into his orchard and eat until he was full, 
but with arm in sling, when in sight of mother, I could 
bah a hook, sling it out from the dock, and if another 
catfish tried to give me the slimy thorn his effort was 
wasted. TheTesson was too recent to be lost. 
Do sting-rays shed their thorns, stings, or what- 
ever you may call 'em? Let me say right here that this 
is not a conundrum of which I hold the answer, for I 
know -nothing of the subject, as I profess to do in the 
case of the antelope. I never heard the question raised 
until in carelessly running through my library I opened 
the second, volume of "A History of British Fishes," by R, 
Hamilton, London, who, after quoting Yarrell on the 
serrated spine of the sting- ray, says: "Formerly this 
weapon was considered to be of a very formidable char- 
acter, as it was thought to possess poisonous qualities; 
this, however, has been completely disproved. It ap- 
pears to be deciduous at certain intervals (perhaps an- 
1 ■ ■ 
■ ' ■ ... 
m : 'wm 
SOUTHERN STING RAY. 
From Fishery Industries. 
nually), and to be replaced by another. These spines 
are sometimes used as a point to arrows and spears, 
for which they are well fitted." 
I prefer to let this question of the shedding of spines 
go to those who have had better opportunities for ob- 
servation of the sting-ray, my own views are from dis- 
section merely, and may be incorrect. Here is a chance 
tor my old friend Prof. C. F. Holder to investigate, be- 
tween his captures of monstrous tunas, and no doubt he 
will be glad of the hint, We were together in the old 
New York Aquarium some twenty odd years ago, and 
then he was fond of problems. The Pacific Coast has 
many skates and rays, stingers among the lot, which, if 
not specifically identical with the Atlantic species^ prob- 
ably would not differ in the matter of shedding spines. 
The Skate as Food. 
The skate is good to eat, but being unfamiliar food 
.is thrown away by the ton. The reason is that our 
' forefathers found such a wealth of sea food that they 
would not eat certain species, and this in their de- 
scendants became prejudice. I have eaten skate in 
Europe, where it is a common fish in the markets, and 
called it good. Of course it does not equal salmon, 
shad, whitefish, trout, bluefish, pompano, striped bass 
and other first-class fishes, but it is good; as good as 
many salt-water fishes that are. sold in our markets and 
superior to most fresh-water fish. This is of course only 
THE SKATE. 
From Brookes' Fis>hes. 
the judgment of one man's palate, who would prefer a> 
few pounds of skate to a ton of carp. 
I have also eaten skate in America, and found it\ 
good. Only the great pectoral fins are eaten, and these 
have long, bony rays extending across them, which are' 
easily managed. They are fried or broiled, as I have 
eaten them, but perhaps may be cooked in other ways. 
New York city has, in the tenement districts, at least 
300,000 people who would be glad to buy skates at 2 
cents per pound, if fresh and wholesome and brought 
to their doors. From Cape May to Cape Cod there are: 
at least 500 pound nets which catch and waste on an; 
average throughout the year over 5olbs. of skate per 
day, which at 1 cent a pound delivered in New York 
would foot up to $250 per day, and the push-cart man. 
could get rich selling them at 2 cents per pound, and: 
the poor would rejoice.- Fresh cod have been sold in 
New York, at wholesale, as low as a cent a pound on 
