ccxli 



wlien ihoy are out of sonson, wliicli is after tliej' Iiavc cnsi Llioir pjiawn, 

 ii])oii wliich tlicy do not only grow very weak aud flabbie, but so 

 unwholesome as it would loatlio any man to see them. Nevertheless, the 

 Irish, a nation extremely barbarous in all parts of their life, did use to 

 take them in that ver}' season, and l)y that means that horrible disease 

 came to be so common amonf>-st them. But the English, having once 

 gotten the command of the whole country into their hand, made very 

 severe laws against the taking of salmons in that unwholosomc season, 

 and saw them carefully observed, whereby hindering these barbarians 

 against their will to feed on that jioisonous meat ; they were the cause that 

 that woeful sickness, which used so mightily to reign amongst them, 

 hath in time been almost abolished." It seems doubtful, however, 

 whether it is not in India more amongst fish which deposit their eggs at 

 one period, as the hilsa, than amongst those who do so more gradually, as 

 the barbels, tliat the sjient condition is most seen in. Although I liavo 

 heard of mahasecr in this condition, I have not personally witnessed 

 them, and, as they do not deposit all their eggs in one batch, they rarely 

 become very lean and flal)l)y, nnleas ill from some other cause likewise. 

 Fish may also be unwholesome, due to their having been kept until par- 

 tial decomposition has set in, or to some substance tlie fish has swallowed, 

 or to tiie food which it has eaten. Thus eels often feed upon yery foul 

 food, and their (Icsh has been known to occasion very dangerous symptoms; 

 thus in France, near Orleans, cramps and diarrhcra attacked a whole family 

 who had partaken of some wliich had been captured from a stagnant 

 castle ditcli in the vicinity. Irritation may likewise be occasioned by 

 swallowing fisli bones or scales, whilst some persons possess a peculiar 

 idiosyncrasy rcndcriiiij fish uiistiited for their digestive powers. " There 

 can be no form of animal food," observes St. Jules Cyr, " more objec- 

 tionable than decomposed or putrid fish, and this is especially seen in a 

 season when diarrhoea is prevalent." In India and Burma, where fish in 

 this condition is rather freely consumed throughout the hot season, it does 

 not appear to be proved that semi-putrid fish is more injurious than 

 meat in the same condition, if so much so. During the monsoon months, 

 when the atmostpherc is moisii, semi-salted fish absorb moisture, and, 

 in Malabar at least, not uu frequently appears to occasion or assist in tho 

 production o£ dysoiiteiy and diarrhcca, whilst in Burma such results do 

 not seem to be attributed to nga-pce. However, eating fisii during the 

 monsoon months oftei"i sets up symptoms of indigestion, and even more 

 serious attacks to some persons, due cither to partaking of spent fish, or 

 else of the immature, which, having commenced to putrefy, set up|derange- 

 ment of digestive system. 



419. It would fill up too much space to detail all tho most whole- 

 some species of Indian fresh-water or ma- 



Acnntnoptcryginn, or spiny- • c i i i r i i 



vnycl fish of India ns food. ""« ^f ^s, but a few genera,! remarks may 

 Tliosc )mving iiccpssorj lircnUi- be made ujion their general digestibility, pre- 

 inp; organs, wlicthcr of thig misiiig that certain local jieculiaritios may 

 fninily ""i^l"'™''^. >"ost esteem- ^^j^, ..n^,,!, , (hcother wise excellent character 

 ed by convalescents. <■ /. , T v-^ > 



01 a lisli. Amongst tlie ifcanl/ioptcri/fjtnn or 



spinj'-rayed families, all that arc found in the fresh-waters apjiear to bo 

 adapted for food, without occasioning deleterious effects. Religious 

 prejudices may militate against the employment of some species, but not 



