112 INTRODUCTION. 



and the reason assigned is, that it was thereby im- 

 proved as an article of food. These details, derived 

 chiefly from Dr. M'Culloch's able Paper already 

 quoted, and which we have had occasion to know 

 are regarded with considerable scepticism by many, 

 might easily be corroborated, did space permit. 

 Dr. Fleming, indeed, observes, that when a salt- 

 water fish is put into fresh water, its motions 

 speedily become irregular, its respiration appears 

 to be affected, and unless released, it soon dies ; 

 and that the same consequences follow, when a 

 fresh-water fish is suddenly immersed in salt water. 

 Suddenness^ however, is not a necessary element in 

 making the change, and should accordingly be 

 avoided. This attended to, hear what Mr. Jesse 

 says of Cod : " It will not only live, but thrive 

 well, in fresh water, if properly fed. A respectable 

 fisherman assured me that he had tried the experi- 

 ment and succeeded, and offered to send me some 

 live Cod in a well-boat for my piseatorium in 

 Bushy Park," (i. 88). Another very striking cor- 

 roboration will be found in The Edinburgh Cabinet 

 Library, vol. xxviii., upon Iceland, Greenland, &c., 

 where the intelligent author states that " the Plaice, 

 Flounder, Holibut, Turbot, and other flat fish are 

 found on the Iceland coasts : there is nothing par- 

 ticular in their history, unless that in one place on 

 the northern coast they are seen, with the Cod, 

 living in the fresh water of a lake on the brink 

 of the ocean." Dr. E. Moore, of Plymouth, in 

 a late communication (Ann. & Mag. of Nat. Hist., 



