ccxxxvn 



FISH AS FOOD, OR THE REPUTED ORIGIN OF DISEASE. 



410. Tlie following notes on fish as food (exclusive of the remarks 



„ , , „ i'* the commencement of this report) or 



General observiitious on a nsli . t • r • i a 



,jig(._ medicine, as a cause of sickness nr tlie occa- 



sion of accidents, liave been collected during 

 the last few j'ears (see Indian Medical Gazette, January and Fehniary 

 1871). In investigating the effects of a fish diet upon the i)0|)uIation 

 of a district, it becomes necessary first to take into consideration the 

 condition of the people generally, or very erroneous conclusions may 

 be arrived at. Thus, during the Burmese war of 1852-5.'3, the Indian 

 native army RufTored severely from scabies and low forms of skin 

 disease, due, it was commonly asserted, to their eating fish conjoined 

 with their poor diet. The European troops had a scorlnitic taint, a 

 result, it was argued, of an insufficient siip]ily of vegetaliles. On the 

 Malabar or western coast of India, leprosy-, intestinal worms, and 

 severe skin affections are considered to be consequent ui)on a fish diet. 

 An important primary considevation should be — what was the condition 

 of the people? Was not impoverished blood, possibly arising from some 

 other cause, the true origin of these various diseases? In olden times we 

 read of lejnosy, so common in Europe, bein<r attributed to the consumption 

 of salt pork or fish in an unwholesome state. 



411. It has been asserted that the Asiatic conquerors of India 



. ,,., liave all been consumers of a more nourishinsr 



Aniniiil rood n npecssity. Mil- r 1 ii • i l\ l it -l i c i 



lin„,i„i„,iin,wl,o would e.t fish food than rice,aud that " it may be safely 



iimlii tlify <.i>t!iin it, now pre- argued that, if the people had been fed upon 



ventod l.,v (l.o ilepniinl^itccl stnte the simple diet of the inlialjitants of the 



of* the fislioiics — n ijood Ciuisc for .,i„:..„ *-U„,*» „ „ ,, i ii i 



,noroc:,reoftben!to be taken T''^'"^' Z^^"^,,, Conquests would never have 

 in future. occurred. llie jiliysical jiowers and moral 



courage, necessary to the achievements of feats 

 of valour and conquest, have never yet been found in a jieople who, 

 like the degenerate races in the lowlands, live on ^rnin deficient in 

 nitrogen, and eschew animal food." If this is admitted, how great 

 must be the moral responsibility of legislators, who, living amongst a 

 population such as exi.sts ihroui,'hout India, more than half of whom would 

 consume (isli could they procure it, have |)ermitted the depopulation of the 

 fresh-water fislieries, and allowed the destruction of so gi eat a source for the 

 supply of animal food. Now that itclearly appears millions would eat fish 

 could they obtain it, surely the re-population and future protection of these 

 fisheries will be considered an important sul)j<'ct for consideration as a 

 means of supplying loss of phj'sical powers and nervous energy. 



412. Amongst the different races of the Indian Empire, fish as food 



^. ,. . is held in various kinds of estimation. 



Ilio various estinintions in „ . i c- i ■ .i , 



wbicb fish is belli by tbe dilfor- Commencing at b«ind in the extreme west, 

 iMit races inhabiting the where the ]iopulation are chi(>fly Mahomedans, 

 Indian Empire. \\-^\^ (jjet Jg almost uuiversallj- esteemed ; even 



the siluroids are eaten, so long as they have large gill ojienings : in 

 I'act, it is the Shias amongst this race who, following the Koran, appear 



