Show THE CATFISH AND ITS HAUNTS if its ane mars were to MS big and nil had tied ony only one like cyclops Cy clop it la Is a singular fact that the spool manx of tho the finny tribe bat that attract tho the attention of and ol 01 0 lots and are most studied by thorn them aro are the modest ugly and lower orders ct tho 00 kind say says tho the now york timal tho the catfish has lately boon the subject of much investigation and ana abo theory now Is that this fish tho the annoy aico anco of anglers though tho the email boye boym delight I ha isa sa descendant of abow erful and terrible order of 0 lh that lived in tho the rood good old days that only and students ot of ante dl luvian mat mutton tors can toll about it ia in a fit ft that tho the of to day any in some localities grows to an immonen Im moneo menso eizo size and weight and who have soon tho the I 1 HO ti of tho the sippi 11 river can well imagine what a monster the of the aroble torio agos ages must havo have boon especially as then it t la Is supposed to havo have had only ono one groat great big oyo eye in the middio middle of ita its forehead prof Il ashford dean of the college of tho the cly city of now york ha has contributed au an article on tho the catfish to tho the fish commissioners which will coon soon bo be issued this article treats of tho the habits of tho the fish as it Is now found in almost all of the ponda ponds and livors of the north and contains alna something of a a concerning tho the ancestry of tho the fish and the leviathan lov luthan pro portions of the grandfathers of the raio rate tho the features of tho the common bull hoad head or catfish aro are well known and to ovary fisher rann its hoadly broad brand and ugly looking and Is largo in proportion to tho the roat of 0 chri body horna horns project from the top tin fla and tho the two eldo side fine which aro are exceedingly cee ceo painful to como come in contact with as many fisherman can testify tho the head is a tenacious hard muss mass of bona in tho the eldo alla of two little wicked looking oyce peep out tho the ekin skin is louch tough ac up 6 hard to penetrate prof dean after hot h ot como come to the conclusion that the catfish was a eort sort of cyclops that must have boon a terror in its time with a dze size of porpoise proportions a hide like that of a rhinoceros tremendous burns and armored hoad head tha pachyderm must havo have been a horrible sight us well as a tremendous fahlor tho the idea that there was only ono one eyo eye is derived from rom tho the peculiar formation of abe bead head in the middle of the forehead is a depression which is believed according to those who make a study of the physical construction st of geological remains to be tho the socket of an eye ye tho the habile habits of tho the elites of genoa to which tho the catfish belongs be lonca would seem to add ovid to tho theory iho catfish is to fond of working in tho the mud and burying itself in tho the slimy ooze that lines tho the bottom of ponds and rivers in ra the winter it met nates and oaly only comes out in tho the spring when a thundershower ivos warning of oming i warm weather or more probably wakes it in the geological nes n es when tho the fish were imme immerso ise and enemies were abundant it was necessary that the catfish should be well provided pro aided with of defense as well as tible to attack the othor other forms of life that it needed nu us food just juet as now it lies in the mud waiting for its prey its dark skin having the color of the bottom so AO that the approaching v vator ater worm or bug has not the slightest suspicion of danger so in the old ages aes the big secure in a gra groad pit in the mud patiently nailed for the coming of prey iho the groat great single orb keerl i out from the mud and mire cap capillo ible of oba eming any tiny dl tur banco cither either on the side aide or overhead I 1 ho he heavy coating of impenetrable armor made it as safo safe from the attack of other animals of tho the deep as was the keight of the crusades against the flight of arrows from it barbarian tribe tho rho waters must have fairly boiled when it sallied forth from its place and the mud had been flung aside us as from a giant dredge some idea of its appearance upp carance can bo be formed by in imagination dressing the specimen in this al lurlan lurian armor it requires the blow of a beetle to crush in the head of tho the bit big western cattish what must it have required to open up the cranium of the monster inojo head was arm ored with u hard bono bone plate |