18G liLn.MA, ITS I'EVI'LE AM) I'llUDLCTlOXS. 



The followiiif; fish are enumerated by ])r. Mason as ])io(luciug isinglass in Burma: 

 Lates ciiharifer, IScitciia coitur, S. dimantltus, S. mik.t, tScite/ioidfs biaiirHus and roli/- 

 nemiis Indicus ; but tlio following renuirks, extracted from Dr. Day's reports, will show 

 that the above by no means comprise all the fishes in Burma rapalile of producing that 

 substance. Isinglass is produced by fi.sli of two distinct orders, the best being- 

 furnished by the AcaHtJiopleri/f/ian families Percidce and Poh/nemida, and an inferior 

 product by the Phijsoxtvmous Hduridte. Of the seven recognized species of Polynemus, 

 only two produce isinglass, and they arc distinguished from the others by possessing 

 five pectoral appendages. Other Acanthupteryyidn fishes producing isinglass are 

 Sciana axillaris, several species of Si'rnvius and Otolithm and Scianoides pama. Tlie 

 air-vessels of the siluroiil cat fish, which yield an inferior isinghiss, are entirely 

 different from the last. They are like short rounded bags, with an open month, this 

 being where they have been torn away from thcii- adhesions to the vertebras. Chief 

 among these fish is the Rita ritoides, C. and V., or Pnnclodus rifa, Ham. Buch., wliich 

 attains a large size and is found far uj) rivers. Other fish yield similar ' sounds ' 

 belonging to the genera Arius, Osfrof/eniosns and Macrones. 



The great thing to be observed in the preparation of isinglass is the complete 

 purification and separation, whilst fresh, of the silvery membrane of the air-vessel 

 from its muscular attachments and all blood and mucus, and the rapid drying of the 

 same in the air. Any neglect in this first process causes a fishy flavour to be 

 perceptible in the product, which seriously reduces its value, and cannot he 

 subsequently got rid of. 



Another important product that may be hero noticed is fish oil, either of a 

 common sort, adapted for various industrial uses, or of a pure quality for medicinal 

 use. This pure oil, which passes for ' cod liver oil,' is prepared from the livers of 

 Choncb'opterygious or cartilaginous fish, as sharks and saw-fi.sh. The larger the 

 liver the greater proportion of oil it yields, small ones giving one-third and large 

 ones one-half their weight of oil. Dr. Day records one liver of a shark which 

 weighed 290 lbs., and another of a saw-fish of 185 lbs. weight. To jirepare the 

 best oil, fit for medicinal pui'poses, the livers are cut into pieces of 4 lbs. each, 

 placed in pots with enough water to cover them to LV inch and gradually heated 

 to 130. It is is now stirred, and any froth skimmed off, and the vessel placed to 

 cool. The oil which collects on the surface is now removed, and subjected to re- 

 peated strainings through long cloth and flannel. The oil should have no deposit, 

 be of a light clear straw colour, and an odour resembling pure cod-liver oil. 



The following observations on the wholesomeness of Indian fish are condensed 

 from Dr. Day's Report. The great majority of fish, both marine and fresh water, 

 may be regarded as wholesome, though there is great difference in fish as regards 

 flavour, and the abundance or paucity of bones contained in them. Some marine 

 fish are occasionally poisonous, as Cliipea venenosa of the Seychelles, and Cliqiea 

 thrissa of the West Indies. Clnpea humeralis, at the Antilles, is so poisonous 

 (from feeding on Phi/salia, as it is thoiight), that it is said to have occasioned death 

 in a few minutes, and e^■en the common herring ( Clnpea harengux), such a sweet 

 and excellent fish ordinarily, is occasionally very irritating when eaten in the 

 North Sea, after it has fed on some minute red worm, which is at times very 

 abundant there. Some fresh-water fish, especially the smaller vegetable feeders 

 among the C'l/priiiida, are liable to cause visceral derangements, especially those 

 species found in hill streams, and particularly so with .strangers, the same fish being 

 eaten with impunity (from habitude probably) by residents. I myself once had 

 a violent attack of English cholera (being at the time in perfect health), brought 

 on by making a hearty breakfast off some small fish in the Kangra Hills, and 

 I perceived nothing wrong with the fish whilst eating them. 



Speaking of a mountain barbel, Oreiniis sinuutua, commonly eaten in Chumha, 

 by both Europeans and natives. Dr. Day remarks : " One of my native servants, who 

 tried one, declined a second attempt, as he was unwell for 24 hours subsequently"; 

 and in some of the Punjab rivers similar deleterious effects have been recorded. 

 Some people, too, are constitutionally unable to eat fish, through some idiosyncracy, 

 without any reference to the excellence of the fish, and I know an instance of a 



