MISCELLANY. 



247 



round the sun. It may have here been 

 exposed to a mechanical influence, which 

 broke it into two parts, and it is quite pos- 

 sible that many other breakings may have 

 taken place, reducing it to fragments so 

 small as not to be visible, except as falling 

 meteors. 



FISH AS FOOD. 



Those fish are most digestible which 

 have least of the oily element in their com- 

 position. Rich or fatty fish are apt to dis- 

 turb the stomach, and prove stimulant to 

 the general system. Thirst and an uneasy 

 feeling are frequently produced by them, 

 and it is this, doubtless, that has led to the 

 practice of drinking spirits with this class 

 of food. Hence, the proverb, "Brandy is 

 the Latin for fish." It is well, therefore, in 

 selecting fish, to choose those that cook 

 dry, and are freest from oily matter. The 

 sooner a fish is cooked, after being taken 

 from the water, the better it will be. There 

 is a popular notion that, like butchers'-meat, 

 fish is improved by being kept awhile be- 

 fore it is fitted for the table. This is a mis- 

 take. There is a white curdy matter, plainly 

 visible between the flakes of freshly-boiled 

 fish, which adds much to the flavor, and 

 is highly nutritious. This is really a film 

 of albumen, produced by the coagulation 

 of the serous juices, contained in the mus- 

 cles. If the fish is kept long before cook- 

 ing, a large share of this is lost, and the fla- 

 vor of the fish correspondingly impaired. 

 Fishermen themselves say that fish, taken 

 directly from the net to the kettle, are as 

 different, in flavor and nourishing proper- 

 ties, from fish one, two, or three days old, 

 such as are purchased in our markets, as 

 " chalk is from cheese." 



By drying, salting, smoking, and pickling, 

 the digestibility of fish is greatly injured, 

 though in some cases its savory and nutri- 

 tive properties may be improved. The flesh 

 of fish is more digestible boiled than fried, 

 and for invalids should always be cooked in 

 this way. That of the male fish is in most 

 cases better eating than that of the female 

 and, in either case, it is at its greatest per- 

 fection for food at the period of the ripening 

 of the milt or roe. After spawning-time 

 fish appear to get out of condition, their 

 ilesh becomes soft and flabby, loses flavor 

 has a bluj3h semi-transparent look after 



cooking, and eaten thus is sometimes pro- 

 ductive of much evil. 



If lobsters and crabs are fresh, well 

 cooked, and eaten in reasonable quantity, 

 they agree with most stomachs, though less 

 digestible than fish. They sometimes, how- 

 ever, produce violent colic, nausea, giddi- 

 ness, depression, and nettle-rash ; these ef- 

 fects depending upon some peculiar suscep- 

 tibility of particular persons. Lobsters 

 are frequently sold insufficiently boiled, and 

 in this state are not nearly so wholesome as 

 when thoroughly cooked. 



Of all bivalves that are eaten, oyster3 

 are the most easily digested, and the most 

 nutritious ; and they are more digestible raw 

 than cooked. Cooking coagulates and hard- 

 ens the albumen, and corrugates the fibrine, 

 causing both to be less easily dissolved by 

 the juices of the stomach. Raw oysters 

 rarely disagree even with invalids or dys- 

 peptics. Persons of a gouty habit, how- 

 ever, particularly if they have dyspepsia, are 

 sometimes violently disordered by them ; 

 and they have beeu known to bring on con- 

 vulsions when eaten by women soon after 

 confinement. 



Many of the sauces eaten with fish are 

 very indigestible compositions, and often 

 the fish itself is charged with ill-effects 

 which are solely due to the sauce. Oyster- 

 sauce is too often made so badly, that both 

 sauce and oysters are unfit for food. 



Fish is less satisfying to the appetite 

 than meat, poultry, or game, and, as it con- 

 tains a larger proportion of water, is obvi- 

 ously less nourishing. On the other hand, 

 many persons pass through the season of 

 Lent on a diet composed almost wholly 

 of fish, without apparent diminution of 

 strength ; and whole villages may be found 

 on the coast, where fish almost entirely 

 takes the place of butchers'-meat, the in- 

 habitants at the same time being noted for 

 their health and vigor. 



TEMPERATURE OF THE BODY IN 

 nEALTIT. 



In the healthy human adult, the body 

 being at rest, and the temperature of the 

 surrounding atmosphere about 60 Fahr., 

 the average temperature in the axilla is 9S.- 

 4, in the rectum 99.4 and that under the 

 tongue is intermediate, or about 98.9. The 



