WHITEBAIT WUERE CAUGHT. 277 



" 'It is quite possible that a fluid or mucus of an irritating or 

 poisonous nature may collect in the longitudinal groove of the 

 spine, and may he introduced into the wound hy contact; but 

 there is nothing in the structure of the spine itself or of its basal 

 attachments to justify the supjsosition that a venomous fluid can 

 be iujected by it. ^Yhateyer may be the nature of the virus, it is 

 certain that a puncture by one of these spines sufficiently deep to 

 draw blood is generally followed by much pain and inflammation, 

 as I know from exiaerience.' " 



Sliould any of my readers inifji-tunately be wounded 

 by a viper fish, I recommend fomentations of hot poppy 

 decoction, followed by poultices, with laudanum. Sal- 

 volatile in di-am doses should be taken every two hours. 



WHITEBAIT. 



The following account of "Whitebait is given fi-om the 

 Appendix to the " Eeport on the Sea Fisheries of 

 England and Wales, 1879," (1. 2-U9), in which I give a 

 short history of each of the fish mentioned in the 

 Report : — 



The whitebait which comes to the London market is 

 caught principally at the following places : — Gravesend, 



WniTEBAIT. 



Queenborough, Leigh, Southend, Shoeburyness, and 

 Baruham (Essex). The nets used for catching white- 

 bait are stowboat nets, peterboat nets, and seines. 



The money expended in the actual capture of white- 

 bait is altogether of very considerable amount. There 



