Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VIII.djvu/117

 GOOSE FISH 109 . High the soil is dry, the berries become overgrown with an insidious mildew (erysiphe mors uvce, Schw.), which effectually prevents their perfect growth. Repeated application of a wash made with flowers of sulphur and lime alone destroy this mildew, and save the >p ; hut the trouhle is generally considered too great for the result. A variety or hybrid, with #ood-sized berries of a greenish purple color and pleasant flavor, called "Houghton's seedling," originating in the vicinity of Boston, is free from the attacks of this fungus ; this va- riety furnishes the greater part of the fruit sold in our markets. The cluster, Downing, and mountain seedling are other American varieties. The fruit in our markets is almost invariably sold in the green state for cooking purposes. The European varieties are seldom seen in this country except in the gardens of amateurs. In some of the manufacturing towns of England the operatives have gooseberry societies and hold exhibitions, the fruit being judged by weight. The gooseberry thrives best in a ra- ther cool and partially shaded aspect ; and it has been observed that the direct rays of the sun striking upon the bushes and fruit, when grown near walls and fences, cause the berries to scald, so that they fall, so rapid is the evaporation from its succulent tissues. GOOSE FISH, an acanthopterous fish of the lophioid family, which contains some of the most hideous and voracious of the class. It belongs to the genus lophius (Artedi), charac- terized by a head enormously large, broad, and flat ; the body slender, smooth, with two sep- arate dorsal fins; the mouth very wide, the lower jaw the longer, armed with numerous movable, sharp, conical, recurved teeth on the jaws, palate, vomer, and pharyngeal bones; tongue smooth ; branchial rays six, and bran- chial arches three. Numerous fleshy appen- dages or cirrhi are arranged along the edge of the lower jaw, the pectoral fins, and to the base of the tail ; there are several spines upon the head, two just behind the snout, others over the eyes and at the back part of the skull ; the anterior rays of the dorsal, situated on the head, are separated as two slender ten- tacles, the first generally with a fleshy appen- dage, joined to the skull by bony rings, and capable of free motion at the will of the ani- mal. The pectorals are elongated into a kind of arm, the rays representing fingers, by which some members of the family are enabled to move as upon legs; hence Cuvier's name of pectorales pediculati ; these fins are large and digitate at the end, and behind and beneath them are the large branchial apertures; the ventrals are stout and fleshy, considerably in front of the pectorals ; the tail is stout and digi- tate at the end. The eyes are large and oval ; the nostrils are peculiar in being placed at the end of an erectile tube, the summit of which expands like the cup of a flower, and which is directed toward any odorous object. The skel- eton is fibrous rather than bony ; the stomach is very large and muscular, and the intestine short ; the spinal cord is as long as in other fishes, but is remarkably reduced in size below its anterior third, while the nerves which arise from it form a large bundle within the spinal canal, completely concealing the cord. There are five species described, of which the L. Ameri- canus (Cuv.) and Z. piscatorius (Linn.) are the best known. The American goose fish grows to a length of 4 or 5 ft., varying in weight from 15 to 70 Ibs. Its appetite is most voracious, and it feeds upon all kinds of fish ; entire sea fowl, such as gulls and ducks, have been found in its stomach; it is occasionally taken by the hook and in nets, but is good for nothing, not even its liver containing much oil. Being a poor swimmer from the feebleness of its pec- toral fins, it remains hidden in the mud or sand, waving its fleshy appendages, which fishes mistake in the turbid water for food, and are thus drawn within the reach of its ca- Goose Fish (Lophius Americanus). pacious gape. From this habit of fishing, it has been called angler and fishing frog, and from its hideous appearance and immense mouth,' sea devil, wide gab, and devil fish. The color of the L. Americanusis dark brown, sometimes in blotches, and dirty white below.