228 Dr. Mac Culloch-on the Changing 
the water into which they enter, the whiting as well-as the cod 
might possibly learn to inhabit our lakes or rivers, and thus 
become among the most accessible as it is among the most deli- 
cate of fishes. If the smelt could be naturalized in ponds, 
as I have here rendered more than probable, it would, from 
the esteem in which it is held, be a peculiarly desirable acqui- 
sition. The hints contained in this paper may possibly in- 
duce others, who have the means in their power, to assist in the 
execution of a set of trials which can succeed only in the hands of 
many, and which must necessarily be the work of time. 
It has been suggested that as the flavour of fresh-water fish is 
far inferior to that of the marine species, the effect of naturaliza- 
tion would be to diminish their value as articles of food. This 
does not absolutely follow, although it may be thought probable from 
the case of the mullet above-mentioned, and by the fact that the 
flavour of the salmon is constantly diminishing from the time it has 
quitted the sea. If such should prove to be the case, it might 
indeed diminish the value of the acquisition, but it would not 
therefore destroy it; nor is it likely that a smelt would ever sink 
to the scale of a gudgeon, or a whiting to that of a roach. 
I have already shewn, however, that this deterioration of quality, 
so far from being probable, is not at all likely to occur ; since with 
this single exception, supposed to have occurred in Guernsey, and 
which is probably the report of prejudice, the flavour is really im- 
proved in all the cases where the experiment has been fairly tried ; 
and since the transportation, in Sicily, is made with this very object 
and no other. At any rate, let the trials be made before any 
such condemnatory judgment is passed. 
I will only further remark here, that there is no very good reason 
why the turtle should not be naturalized. What an acquisition 
this would be, it may be left to the Court of Aldermen to decide. 
The animals of hot climates, that live in air, have been so; and 
and why the submarine, or amphibious ones should not equally 
admit of this change of habits, I know not, and nobody else does. 
The turtle might take its place alongside of the peacock and the 
pintado, and with his fellow turtles of the land; while, if he chose 
