Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-03-15
CANNIBALS OF THE SEA,
They All Have Their Place in the
scheme of Nature.


scheme of Nature.
From the New York Sun.
Colonel James E Jones' superintendent of
the aquarium In Battery Park made some
interesting remarks the other day on the
cannibalS- of the sea Colonel Jones said:
'One of the sayings familiar to the an
cient Romans was that the big fish eat up
the little ones. and the cannibals of the sea
come in for large share of censure from
those who look at such matters from a
purely philanthropic standpoint. The can
nibals Of the sea partake SO strongly OF
the habits OF the cannibals of the land that
in referring TO one you must necessarily, or
rather incidentally, refer to the other. Over
two-thirds of the globe We inhabit being
water, and animal life existing In all parts
thereof, 1t Is not strange that the great
Master should nave made ample provisions
for its increase and maintenance and placed
upon il certain restrictions in the absence
OF seIf-soyernment TO prevent oyerproduc-
Iion and its attending fatalities.
In the democracy of the deep there are
no parliaments of legislators to pass good
and wholesome laws for their own protec-
ton, hence an an-wise Providence has
dained that the big fish shall eat up all
the little ones to an extent that forever
fOrbids Overproduction. just the same as
on earth. He has, or rather permits. war,
pestilence and famine and its blood-curd-
ton within healthful limits.
If all mankind died from old age only,
the earth long ago would have contained a
population far beyond its food-producing
capacity, and the big men would have been
forced to eat up the little ones
'All fish. under certain conditions. are
cannibals. The food fish come and go
regularly in this locality. and the inteiii-
gent fishermen can tell with surprising ex-
actneSs the day their arrival and de-
parture The shad and herring are the
first migratory fish that make their appear
ance in this latitude. Two valid reasons
can be assigned for this under the guiding
hand of the great Creator; first, they sup
ply food for the millions; and, secondly,
they come TO deposit their eggs far enough
up our almost countless rivers to prevent
their consumption by the numerous bot
tom cannibals that throng the margin of
the ocean and the mouths OF our great
rivers
Next in order comes the squeteague or
weakfish. and the menhaden for similar
reasons. but they do not wander far in
land Then come the cannibals OF the sea,
the sharks. the blue fish and the porpoise.
just the gambler and the sure-thing man
visits the race track and the places where
men do most congregate. Here comes in
one OF the wonderful provisions OF Provi-
dence-the young fish from five to eight
inches in length dc not return 70 the home
OF their ancestors until ate In october, after
all the cannfbais have been driven away
by the changed condition of the water.
tive safety.
THE great lakes and rivers that drain
and fer;ilize the entire continent and TEEN
with such a variety OF food fish have their
share of cannibais. The yoracieus pickerel
the bass and the trou. family subSist almost
entirely upon small fish and do not scruple
20 make hasty meal upon their offspring.
If nothing else offers. The salnen. whose
real habitat is-the ocean. are only visitors
in our fresh water streams and take little
food during their visits The great ex-
piorers. Lewis and Clark found them so
plentiful in the Columbia river and its trib-
utaries that the Indian could jump into the
stream in the morning and kill them for
his breakfast with the same club that he
used TO kill his adversary In the afternoon
In these streams there seems to have been
an absence of the real cannibal but the
hungry Indian. IN a measure performed his
functions to prevent oyerproduction
The birds OF the air are nearly all cannf-
balls. living upon the winged insects that
seem created for that purpose alone Ma
ture on sea and hand has studied variety on
large scale and everything created is for
some purpose and for that purpose it Is
used, and what is termed utter destruction