ccxliil 



ngn-pee. Some of tlio largei- species of Macronen Jind Aritts wliicli are 

 found in fresh waters are not esteemed, as they consume ordin-e wlienevor 

 [)iocin;il)lo : perhaps it may bo considered (piestionahle whether cliolerii 

 may not ho spread liy tliis ngoney, if (ho fish are eaten Ijefore beings 

 thoroiin'Idy oh\aned or cooked. This family of fishes, witli tlic cxooptiona 

 noted, does not ap]iear to l)e very wholesome, being', as a rule, rather v'wh, 

 or else bard and indigostilde. Tiieir flavour is likewise generally insipid, 

 still the Aor, Macrones aor, in some localities is exoellent, whilst the 

 absence of bones renders the operation of eating it^ not a servioe of 

 danger, as in many Asiatic fresh-water fishes. 



421. The oarps, Cj/prinidtP., whioh abound in the waters of tho 

 plains of India, are all more or less useful 

 C:up3 iu Mlly dist.iotg may f^^^^^, ^m^o^ [, difPeiing wi.lely in their 



set up ileleterious ellccts. '. " T.i .1 ,• 



gastionomio value, lint as the mountain 



regions are approached the value of some as food becomes impeached, 

 nt least when eaten by strangers, although generally to tho residents, 

 and porliaps many of the visitants, no deleterious cfiects are produced. 

 Dr. McClelland observed of a mountain barbel, Oreinns progastus, that 

 " this species is said by the natives of Assam to cause swimming in tho 

 head, and temporary loss of reason for several days, without any 

 particular derangement of tho stomaoli. It is the most herbivorous of 

 tlie barbels," fa statement open to doubt J "and, like some of the 

 gudgconsj tends rapidly to decay after death, and in the abdominal cavity 

 a copious oily secretion is found," [in common with other Indian carps 

 before the breeding season and after they have recovered from such,] 

 " which is prol)ably the cause of its bad effoote. * * * Mr. Giifiith 

 was informed by the fishermen that, if eaten, it occasions all tho symptoms 

 of drunkenness, which coincides with what 1 have myself heard regarding 

 its efiects." (Trans-Asiatic Society, Bengal, xix, page 31k) The lato 

 Dr. Jerdon informed mo that he had witnessed these symptoms amongst 

 his own servants, produced from eating some species of tnountain fishes. 

 When in the Chumba State in the Himalayas, I found another inouutnin 

 barbel, Oreinns smuatiis, very common, but the natives asserted that it 

 never occasioned uncomfortable symptoms, althougli they were consumed 

 by every class of tho community. Some European residents, and others 

 who were visitors, likewise eat them with impunity ; however, one of my 

 native servants who tried one declined a second attempt, as ho was 

 unwell for 24 hours subsequently. Low down the Ravi, and in some of 

 the other Paiijdb rivers, I have heard of deleterious etTects being occasioned 

 from partaking of these fishes. Certainly at Chumba the fish were netted 

 and not captured Ijy means of poisoning the water. 



422. Amongst the Clnpeida, or herring family, which abound in 

 Horing fiimily : mcml.ors of the Indian scas, some being visitants to tho 

 it occiisioimlly or iihviiys poison- fresh-waters for breeding purposes, and a 

 o"s- few entirely residing there; several marine 



forms have been reputed as poisonous, whioh in some instances appears 

 to be due to the food which they have eaten. EngranUs hoclama, a small 

 anchovy, has been accuseil by Dussumier of occasioning death in a few 

 hours, if dressed without its bead and intestines having been first 

 removed ; they abound, however, at the Andamans, where they are largely 

 eaten, and there is no record in that settlement of any individual haviuy 



