The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1893-01-19
LANCERS oE TIE SHOALS.
The PugnacIous stIngray of Southern
Waters.

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. 1t is constant
denizen of the brackish streams and the
shoal waters along the coast, where its
favorite food, such as oysters, CLAIMS,
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 hve
elongated apertures on each side of the
head below
The body is a 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 The 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
erected or depressed at the pleasure of
its owner.
When the fish has only one large
sting a 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 covering of virulent slime
which soon poisons the blood of any
creature into which it finds it's way.
The common stingray frequents shoal
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-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
inside, as the barbs tear the flesh and
produce such agonizing pains that they
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
hn inc IN ha at of
leaving him, however, it increased each
moment, until, finally, he found him
self unable to swim or walk and had to
be taken home in 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 a
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-
diate death, they having strength
enough to bury the lance to the hilt in
the body of a man.
Stingrays vary all the way from two
pounds to 400 pounds in weight and
from twelve inches to twelve feet in
| length. but the average weight of the
! adult frequenters of shoal water may be
placed at thirty or forty pounds and the
maximum at sixty. At a superficial
| glance they look to be of equal length
and width; the fins seem very wide and
the tail about 4 third or fourth the
length of the body, unless it has been
nutilated in combats.
This species produces its young alive,
the number at birth varying from two
to six While the young are in
their birthplace they have their fins
doubled over the back of one and the
abdomen of another, thus bringing two
| fiat surfaces together. This arrange
ment gives them as much room as pos
sible and keeps organs useless for the
time out of the way. The young are
able to take care of themselves at an
early age and are as pugnacious as wild
cats. They often fight one another des.
perately on sandbars and make charges
that keep the water turbid for several
minutes Their system of fighting is to
rush under one another. stir up the mud
to conceal themselves and then strike
right and left with the long and elastic
barbed tail
They are as good as any of our fiatfish
| for table, but. owing to their viviparous
| character, they are rarely eaten in the
s-uth. They also afford fair sport to
the aug er as they will take fish or
crab bait and sometimes pull his boat
along with the hook, they being very
| strong for their size Detroit Free Press
Log Cabin Toast.
A touch of fancy, or an unusual dain
tiness in serving. will often rouse {
child's lagg ing appetite | have found
that though the children in our family
are not interested in a plate of plair