Sphyrcena barracuda; its Morphology, Habits, and History. 87 



concerning a family which had been poisoned by eating a barracuda 

 which had lain in salt 24 hours. 



The most extensive and possibly the most interesting account of 

 poisoning by the barracuda is given by Cuvier and Valenciennes (1829) 

 in their treatment of Sphyrcena barracuda. The M. Plee quoted seems 

 to have been a French naturalist who lived in the West Indies. Appar- 

 ently his manuscript was sent directly to Cuvier, who writes in the 

 first person: 



"All that has been reported concerning poisonous fishes of warm countries 

 and that malady called Siguatera, which is found under certain circumstances, 

 has the power of inspiring curiosity and interest, so that I have thought I 

 ought to insert here the data collected by M. Plee on the barracuda, just as I 

 have found it among the papers of that unfortunate naturalist. 



" ' Some persons/ said he, ' fear to eat this fish, because it has been frequently 

 proved that it is the cause of illness and sometimes of death. This poisonous 

 property of the becune is present very certainly in a particular state of the 

 individual fish, which appears to show itself at different seasons of the year. 



"*I have consulted several persons with regard to the poison of the becune 

 and all have assured me that there is an infallible means of satisfying one's 

 self when one comes from fishing for it whether or not it is poisonous. He 

 has only to note in cutting it whether or not there runs away a kind of 

 whitish water, or rather a kind of sanie [i. e., serum or exudation], which in 

 all cases is a sure sign that the becune is in the diseased condition of which I 

 have spoken above. D. Arthur O'Neill, Marquis del Norte, has told me that 

 he has often made experiments on dogs and that all these have confirmed the 

 sureness of this means of safety. 



'"The signs of poisoning by the becune are a general trembling, nausea, 

 vomiting, sharp pains, particularly in the joints of the arms and hands. 

 Sometimes these symptoms follow each other so rapidly that it becomes 

 extremely difficult to determine in a precise fashion the different stages of 

 this deadly affection. 



'"If death does not put an end to this malady, as happily is most ordinarily 

 the case, one 7nay sometimes see how the virus always causes certain singular 

 pathological phenomena. The nails of the hands and feet gradually die and 

 drop off; the hairs, which, as is well known, are of the same nature as the nails, 

 finally drop out also. These phenomena have been noted in several individ- 

 uals to have continued for a considerable number of years. One case may 

 be cited in which this experience persisted for more than twenty-five years. 



"'One remarkable fact is that when the becune has been salted it never 

 causes any trouble. At St. Croix for instance, it is the custom not to eat it 

 until the day following the one on which it was salted. May it not be that 

 the salt is an antidote for the poison of the becune? ' " 



However, M. Pl^e adds in honesty that which spoils an apparently 

 straightforward piece of testimony by saying that he has never seen 

 a case of barracuda poisoning, but has had his information from per- 

 sons "well instructed and worthy of confidence." 



Widespread is the behef that this reported poisonous affection of the 

 flesh is due to the fish's feeding on substances containing copper, as 

 referred to in Chisholm's account. Gosse (1851) refers to the same 



