ICHTHYOLOGY. 187 



lady (no other than the "placcns uxor" of the wiitor) who is very fond of fisli, 

 and couhl once eat it, but can do so no longer without beiu^ raado violently ill by it. 

 Occasionally it happens, too, that a peifeetly wholesome fi>h may, i'rom the nature 

 of wliat it has lately fed on, be rendered temporarily unwholesome. Thus many 

 "■ scari,^ or parrot iishcs, are held to bo unwholesome at Mauritius between December 

 and April, from it is supposed their feeding on the coral jxdypes ; and fishes which 

 have fed on poisonous or stinsiug medusse are supposed to be rendered poisonous 

 by so doing. To come nearer home, some fish are eaten by the Andamanese which 

 are regarded as poisonous in Burma. A more remediable cause of unwholesomeness, 

 however, in fresh-water fish, is where they have access to the filth of towns and 

 have gorged themselves at the outfall of a latrine. This, however, is a palpable 

 source of contamination, and is alluded to by Juvenal in his Fifth Satire, where lie 

 contrasts the fish the wealthy host himself eats with that set before his poor 

 retainers — 



" Vos anguilla nianet, longa? cognata colubroc 

 Aut glacie adspersus maculis Tiberinus, et ipso 

 Vernula riparum, pinguis torri'ute cloaca, 

 Et solitus mediiC cryptam penetrare suburte." 



In like manner there is a wonderful difference in the quality of the flesh of the 

 same species of fish, depending on whether it has been taken from a clear running 

 stream, or a mu<ldy and sluggish one. Season also has great influence on the whole- 

 someness of fish, as, after spawning, many fish are out of condition, and more or 

 less unwholesome, and the roe of some species (as the English barbel) is apt to 

 violently disagree with some stomachs, a circumstance humorously alluded to by 

 old authors. Some fish seem to become unwholesome with age, though the young 

 are not so, as the Caranx J'alhtx, or horse mackerel, which in some places it is 

 illegal to sell for food if more than 2i lbs. in weight. 



As a rule, therefore, it may be held that the most wholesome fish may become 

 deleterious or actually poisonous, if caught soon after having fed on foul or deleterious 

 substances, and witli this proviso all the fishes belonging to the carp and cat-fish fami- 

 lies ( Ci/prinidic and Siluridce) are good for food, and of these the Mahseer is perhaps our 

 finest fresh-water fish for the taljlo. Of marine fish, those ornamented with gaudy 

 colours are to l)e distrusted, as the Parrot fish, Scari and JJn/istes, and at Bourbon and 

 Mauritius Odracioii cornufum and lialistes hetida are regarded as highly poisonous. 

 The Tt'trodons or puff fishes, so called from inflating themselves with air, when 

 captured, are usually considered jjoisonous, but according to Dr. Day are eaten and 

 relished by the Andamanese. At the Capo of Good Hope, however, a spotted 

 (Jhatodon has caused so many deaths that warnings are issued to ships regarding its 

 use. In Japan a species of tliis genus is made use of to effect suicide. In Burma, 

 however, the largo yellow Xrnopti'fiis nnritits is caught for food and considered good 

 eating. All cartilaginous fish, as sharks, skates and saw-fish, are considered whole- 

 some food, and their fins even rank in Cliina as delicacies. The Torpedo, however, 

 is an exception, and would seem not to be eaten. 



All the herrings or Clupeidm, would seem to be good for food, with the exceptions 

 above noted. The hilsa, Clupea pulasah, which ascends the large rivers of India to 

 spawn, is one of the richest and most esteemed fish, but in Burma it is avoided by 

 sick people and its use is siipposed (erroneously no doubt) to induce or aggravate skin 

 diseases. I think this dislike of the hilsa may originate from a pri'judico the Burmese 

 have against the smell of heated oil or grease, which they suppose produces fever. 

 Any one therefore who wishes to fry any rich dish, takes it outside the village, that 

 the fumes of the simmering oil may not cause illness to her neighbours. A rich oily 

 fish like the hilsa could not be broiled without giving out such fumes, and hence it 

 probably comes to be considered unwholesome. 



All eels, Muranida, are wholesome, but the appearance of many is i-epulsive, and 

 being ostensibly devoid of scales neither Jews nor JIahomedans will eat them. 



As regai-ds the effect of a fish diet on the health, and especially as tending to 

 produce leprosy and skin diseases, Dr. Day pertinently remarks that leprosy is 



