154 M. A. Dumeril on Venomuus Fishes. 



accident is mainly due to idiosyncrasy or some peculiar condition 

 of the stomach, by which certain aliments, generally easy of 

 digestion, become a sort of poison. 



III. 



The supposition has been put forward that the noxious pro- 

 perties of various fishes are dependent on circumstances con- 

 nected with their aliment. 



Thus Munier, in a letter to Sonnerat (Journal de Physique, 

 1774, t. iii. p. 129), says that in Boiirbon and Mauritius, be- 

 tween December and March, or even April, none of the Sca7-i 

 which he calls " Vieille " and " Perroquet " (the precise deter- 

 mination of which, as Valenciennes has remarked*, is uncertain) 

 are eaten. They are then regarded with mistrust, because, 

 during the season when the coral is growing, they eat great 

 quantities of the animal which constructs it. 



According to Munier, the causticity of the juices of their 

 prey is the only cause of their baneful properties. 



Commerson, in his manuscripts, says, speaking of the "Catau- 

 bleue" {Sca7'iis capitaneus, Cuv. et Val. t. xiv. p. 230), that this 

 species, like its congeners, gnaws the coral, and is consequently 

 looked upon with suspicion in both the lle-de-France and 

 Bourbon. 



M. Dussumier, in the MS. catalogues accompanying the fishes 

 brought by him from the Indian seas (Val. Hist. Poiss. t. xiv. 

 p. 252), has noted that the inhabitants of Bombay regard with 

 mistrust another Scnrus {Sc. harid), its flesh being reputed 

 dangerous when it has fed upon corals. 



Certain Annelides of the northern seas, hitherto ill-deter- 

 mined, are sometimes so abundant as to give a red tint to the 

 water. They are eaten by the herrings, and are thought to be 

 capable of communicating hurtful properties to their flesh (Cuv. 

 et Val. Hist. Poiss. t. xx. p. 71). 



In DuhameFs 'Traite des Peches^ (2*^ partie, sect. iii. p. 549) 

 are some remarks by Barbotteau relative to the sardine of the 

 Antilles [Harengula humeralis, Cuv. et Val.). This fish is said 

 to have a baneful effect, occasioning fevers, and often even death, 

 when it has been taken in the vicinity of copper or has fed on 

 the zoophytes named " Men-of-war " {Physalia). It is worthy of 

 notice that Lherminier, who resided for a long time in Guade- 

 loupe, observed it to be venomous in all seasons, and, indeed, to 

 such an extent as to cause death in a few minutes. 



The fish named Courpata at Nice, and which Risso has made 

 the type of the genus Tetragonura, cannot be eaten. That 



* Cuv. et Val. Hist. d. Poiss. t. xiv. pp. 237 & 238. 



