ccxliv 



suflurod ilclcterioii.slj' fiom the effects of outing tliom. Tliey are mostly 

 consumetl in u dry state; certainly neither their heads uor intestines are 

 removed. Along- the Malabar Coast of India and in Ceylon, eating 

 sardines, either the Ciiipea Neohoivil or C. melauura, has been thought to 

 occasion poisonous symptoms, but both species abound in the Anda- 

 mans and are eaten with imjjurity ; still I have personally witnessed 

 many cases of vomiting and purging resembling cholera, especially 

 about the mouth of October, and \vhieh could only be traced to the 

 fact that some unwholesome fish had been the cause. The Clupea 

 veuenosa was found to be poisonous at the Seychelles by Dussumier, 

 but Colonel Playfair at Zanzibar considered that Ihey " do not appear 

 to possess any such property ; on the contrary they form no incon- 

 siderable part of the daily food of the lower orders." {.llosa veneiwsa, 

 Fish, Zanzibar, p. 122.) Dr. Cantor observed, when remarking upon 

 the Ciiipea perforata, that it is found in the Straits, where it is 

 termed a sardine, and most common from June to August. Some 

 specimens procured by Mr. Lewis " were accompanied by the following 

 account of a phenomenon witnessed by that gentleman during his 

 official resilience at Bencoolen. In 1822, great numbers of what 

 was supposed to be this identical species presented the appearance 

 of having red eyes. I\Iany natives, after having eaten these iijhcs, 

 were suddenly attacked with violent vomiting, which, in cases where 

 remedies were not immediately applied, was knowu witliiu an hour 

 to terminate fatally. At the same time, such of these fishes with the 

 ordinary silver eyes were, as formerly, eaten with impunity." This 

 phenomenon re-occurred the two succeeding years, and he considered 

 it probable that the poisonous fishes were shoals of C. veuenosa. Any of 

 the foregoing would appear to be ])oisonous from some local or accidental 

 cause, as the abundance of I'ood which may suit them but renders 

 their flesh poisonous ; but in the West Indies, the Clupea tlirhsa is 

 stated to be inherently so. The Clupea humeralis is so poisonous at 

 the Antilles, due to feeding on the Pkt/salia, that it occasionally causes 

 death in a few minutes ; even the common herring, Clupea harcngus, 

 is sometimes very irritating when eaten, in the North Sea, conse- 

 quent on living on some minute red worm .which are occasionally 

 abundant there. The Indian shad, Clupea palasak, when in season, 

 is somewhat rich, and the Burmans do not eat it during sickness, 

 or should they be suffering at the time from skin affections, or have 

 suffered from such during the few preceding months, as they aflirm 

 it will aggravate it when present, and reproduce it if only recently 

 recovered from. 



423. Amongst the eels, Hfunenirla, none appear to be reputed 

 , , unwholesome, still there is no reason they 



Eels as food. iiii.i -tt 'n 



siiould not become so in India as in ii,nroi)e 



(see para. 418). The appearance of some is considered repulsive, whilst 



Jews and Mahomedans reject them. 



424. In the Sclerodermatous family, species of the Balisles are 



eaten by the Andamanese, but none of the 



ScleroUcrmi as fuou, or noisoii- /-i ^ • r t l • 



' ■ Ostraoions, so far as I can ascertain, are em- 



ployed as food. It is curious tliat the 

 Ostracion cornnium and the BalUtcs vetula are said to bo very poisonous 



