Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1893-01-26
.LANcERs OF THE SHOALS.

The Pugnacious Stingray OF Southern
Waters.
One of the most dreaded fishes of the
southern waters is the stingray (trygon
sabina), which is generally known as
the stingaree, clamcracker and conk-
crusher The two latter names are
given it from the readiness with which
it can crush hard shells. It is constant
denizen of the brackish streams and the
shoal waters along the coast, where its
favorite food, such as oysters, clans,
crabs sea snails, squids and kindred
creatures, abound Being a mem Der of
the shark family it has no gill covers,
SO the water passes through five
elongated apertures on each side of the
head below.
The body is little broader than it is
long, and the fore part is blunt The
fins are very large and wave up and
down in the water like the wings of a
butterfly in the air, when the fish is
swimming. This motion is called
''sluddering' by some fishermen and is
very graceful Tho tail is stout and
armed with one or more bony spikes
varying from two to ten inches in
length, each of which is barbed along
the sides like fish hook, and can be
its owner.
When the fish has only one large
| sting smaller one is usually found at
its base, and is ready for use should an
accident befall the other. This sharp,
barbed weapon is rendered the more eff
fective by a covering of virulent slime
| which soon poisons the blood of any
creature into which it finds it's way.
| hn re
water with muddy bottoms or spots
where aquatic weeds grow in profusion
and lies in concealment while searching
for or waiting for its prey. Being of a
brownish-b black line, it is not readily
seen in such places, and this makes it
all the more dangerous to bathers and
! fishermen, for it strikes fercely at any
! thing that disturbs it and then tries to
escape under the veil of cloak of mud
which it raises by beating its large alar
fins against the bottom.
Its method of striking an object is to
throw its long tail obliquely forward,
and the lancet being about the center
of the upper part, it rarely misses its
aim. The puncture made by the point
looks very small outside. but it is large
inside, as the barbs tear the flesh and
L
| make a man delirious unless proper
remedies are applied to the wound.
A lad who was bathing in the harbor
of Cedar Keys was struck by stingray,
but he paid no attention to the blow,
thinking the pain would leave him if
he remained in the water. Instead OF
leaving him, however, it increased each
moment, until, finally, he found him
L Sa1f 11po 61a tn swim WALL and had n
be taken home in a wagon. Medical
assistance was promptly summoned, but
nothing could save him, and he died
that same night of poisoning of the
blood.
The best remedy for the wound of Z
stingray is poultice of baking soda
and little laudanum poured into the
puncture have always found this
efficacious, but where it cannot be
promptly obtained an excellent substi
tute is poultice of wet hardwood
ashes, as their alkali neutralizes the
acid poison of the slime that covers the
lancet
Large stingrays keep to deeper water
than the small and are therefore less
liable to be encountered by bathers and
fishermen. A blow from one of the
former would, apparently, cause imme
date death, they having strength
enough to bury the lance to the hilt il
the body of a man.
Stingrays vary all the way from two
pounds to 400 pounds in weight, anG
from twelve inches to twelve feet il
length, but the average weight of tn.
adult frequenters of shoal water may bt
placed at thirty or forty pounds and the
maximum at sixty. At superficial
glance they look to be of equal length
and width; the fins seem very wide ant
) the tail about third or fourth tn,
length of the body, unless it has beer
mutilated in combats.
This species produces its young alive
; the number at birth varying from twt
to six While the young are il
; their birthplace they have their fin
doubled over the back of one and tn
abdomen of another. thus bringing tw
| fiat surfaces together. This arrange
? ment gives them as much room as pos
T sible and keeps organs useless for tn
3 time out of the way. The young ar
, able to take care of themselves at al
< early age and are as pugnacious as will
< cats. They often fight one another des
e perately on sandbars and make charge
n
v minutes Their system of fighting is t
e rush under one another, stir up the mu
: to conceal themselves and then strik
: right and left with the long and elasti
) barbed tail
d They are as good as any of our fatfis
h for table, but, owing to their viviparou
|, character, they are rarely eaten in tn
y south. They also afford fair sport t
!. the angler, as they will take fish O
i crab bait and sometimes pull his boa
;, along with the hook, they being yer
u strong for their size. Detroit Free Pres
n Log Cabin Toast.
A touch of fancy, or an unusual dali
o tiness in serving, will often rouse
y child's lagg ing appetite. 1 have foun
' that though the children in our famil
:, are not interested in a plate of plat
. toasted slices of bread, they are alway
= on the qui vive when "log cabin"
IS brought on the table, and this is an e