434 Notes of the Month on [APRIL, 



appearance of fish, and possessed, in a very considerable degree, the 

 piscatory qualities of friability, eatability, butterability, and digesta- 

 bility ; that their contexture admitted advantageously of an affusion of 

 lemon-juice, cayenne-pepper, and chilies ; and that, though several 

 deaths had occurred in consequence of too free an use of them in plethoric 

 habits, they seemed not to be poisonous, or otherwise deleterious per se, 

 in quantities less than five pounds at a time. Science had here gone as 

 far as it could ; for neither a Sir Joseph Banks, nor even a Duke of 

 Sussex, can do all things ; and Sir Joseph's remarkable confession, on 

 the failure of his experiment to boil fleas into the analogous species 

 " Fleas are not lobsters, d mn their souls !" is only one of the many 

 instances in which the greatness of the difficulty has overcome the great- 

 ness of mind. For the last half century, the question has been left 

 among the " Curiosa/' as one of the opprobria of science which no pru- 

 dent philosopher would approach. Diversity of opinions still reigned 

 upon the subject ; some conceiving the white-bait to be the fry of a spe- 

 cies of whale, which came up at night, when the watchmen were asleep, 

 to deposit its young, and then stole off to sea before daylight ; others, 

 salmon in their infancy ; but the majority, a species sui generis a gift of 

 nature to the especial river of London, for the luxury of its especial 

 people and, in fact, for the especial honour and emolument of Green- 

 wich ; the tradition being that no art of man could transport them in an 

 eatable state above London-bridge a tradition, however, which has been 

 within the last year, and the last year only, triumphantly refuted by the 

 landlords of the Albion and the Freemasons' taverns. But Science is inde- 

 fatigable ; and we have to record from its ' ( Quarterly Journal/' the bold 

 attempt of one of its cultivators to bring the white-bait not only dead, 

 but alive, before the eyes of the people of London : 



" A Mr. Yarrell has made several attempts to preserve white-bait alive, of 

 which the following are the results : Several dozens of strong 1 lively fish, four 

 inches in length, were transferred with great care from the nets into large 

 vessels (some of the vessels, to vary the experiment, being of earthenware, 

 and others of wood and metal) filled with water taken from the Thames at 

 the time of catching the fish. At the expiration of twenty minutes nearly 

 the whole of them were dead ; none survived longer than half an hour, and 

 all fell to the bottom of the water. On examination, the air-bladders were 

 found to be empty and collapsed. There was no cause of death apparent. 

 About four dozen specimens were then placed in a coffin-shaped box, pierced 

 with holes, which was towed slowly up the river after the fishing-boat. This 

 attempt also failed: all the fish were dead when the vessel had reached 

 Greenwich. Mr. Yarrell was told by two white-bait fishermen, that they 

 had several times placed these fishes in the wells of their boat, but they 

 invariably died when brought up the river. The fishermen believe a portion 

 of sea- water to be absolutely necessary to the existence of the species ; and all 

 the circumstances attending this particular fishery appear to prove their opi- 

 nion to be correct." 



The arrival of the Lord Advocate in town has revived the panegyric 

 written upon him by that most pleasant of parsons, Sydney Smith. But, 

 by giving only the first verse, the merit of both parties is cruelly muti- 

 lated. We present the world with the entire : 



On, .seeing Mr. Jeffrey riding on a Jackass. 



Wittier than Horatius Flaccus, 

 Far more eloquent than Gracchus, 



