SHARK-FINS 



cl..fiii. -il ;is tho Sharks Hay-fish. Skates and Saw-fish. On the other hand, fih- 



\\hii-h in a purified form is known under the name of minglass (or, to be 



accurate, fish isinglass) is a substance usually obtained from a widely 



.rent assemblage of fish. It is simply the " sound " or " air-bladder " and 



mi^t In. prepared from almost any fish, though certain species are more highly 

 1 than others. It may accordingly be desirable to refer these to two 



FISH 



Fish-maws 



I <i -I jlm 



While mi'I 

 Block 



(a) Shark-flat. Day (I.e. i., 3) wrote, " These fish are employed as food, and 



of tlu'iii. especially the fins, are largely exported from the Indian to the 

 10 markets. In China Dr. Cantor observed that the fins were not exclusively 

 1 from the sharks *ri<n-hniti*t but equally from the rays iintoitiri. 

 Among those examined at Penang were found to be fins taken from the fishes 

 belonging to the following genera : fm-rh <*. xuti^nn, *t< ,,,/,. i-,i*n + . 

 in, ,,,..!, i,,-.. i if/,,,,1, and .VyilobntiH. Gelatine is obtained from the larger Ql*tine Glue, 

 fins, glue from the smaller. All except the caudal fins are cut from the 

 h at the root, so as to leave as little flesh as possible. The root is dipped into 



ott i'il lime (chunam) and then the fins are dried in tho sun, and according to 

 .heir vnluo they are divided into two kinds: "white" and " black." The white 

 -is exclusively of the dorsal fins, which are on both sides of a uniform light 

 colour, and are expected to yield more gelatine than the other fins. The pectoral, 

 \i-iit nil and anal fins pass under the denomination of "black fins" ; the colour, 

 however, varies from buff to grey or brown, and most of them are of two different 

 colours, tho upper surface being dark and the lower light. The black fins of 

 course are the most numerous, and supposed to yield a comparatively small 

 quantity of gelatine." In another passage Day (I.e. i., 5) remarks : " The 

 fins of the sharks are removed and dried in the sun. Strips of the flesh are also 

 salted as food and the livers boiled down for the oil they contain." " Some forms Salted Flesh, 

 of large sharks, as Gairorei-tio. which have the edges of their broad teeth sharp or 



oarsely serrated, cannot be captured by nets, as they at once cut their way out. 

 But nets are suitable for such species as possess conical teeth ; these last may Nets, 

 ikewise be taken by baited hooks attached to cords composed of many strands, 

 through which the teeth penetrate but do not cut." A curious circumstance 

 regarding the special nets used on the coast of Karachi may be here mentioned, 

 namely that they are made very largely of the fibre derived from f'aiott-oitiH 

 ,,<, -,-i-n (see p. 206), a fibre hardly utilised in any other part of India, but the 

 place of which is taken in Eastern India by rhea fibre (see p. 157), both fibres 

 being selected on account of their great strength and durability under water. 



The following are the chief Indian fish that afford "Shark-fins " : A'rtntmtiM 

 ixiriiKi, i (Day, I.e. i., 59), the Devil Fish ; nn tint-inn ,,,, ,-,-<-un (I.e. i., 194), the 

 fresh-water shark, the bunch or gunch; Cat-ctnii-itm nrntiiintH (I.e. i., 11), ashark 

 of the coast of Sind and the Indian Ocean ; *'. f/jf/-ffrn (I.e. i., 13), one of the 

 most ferocious of Indian sharks; t: Hini,ntiiH (I.e. i., 17); ''- HH-initoptrt-n* 

 (I.e. i., 14), caval sorrah or rowan sorrah ; and c. nu-n >/ (I.e. i., 16); 



1'rintin , n-iii,l,il it-, (I.e. i., 37), the Saw-fish ; Ptrroitlnten in if,->i >;i (I.e. i., 56); 



Rhi/iifiinhntiiN ,i n< ,,i<>-.t<>, i, (I.e. i., 41), the Mud-skate ; a. </.;</<*< (I.e. i., 

 40), the ulavi or ran/a ; frygon sepheti (I.e. i., 50), the Ray; T. nm-nni: (I.e. i., 53), 

 th&sankueh, hankus; and r.ngn-itn inniimH (I.e. i., 22), the Hammer-headed Shark. 



(b) Fish-maws and Isinglass (see Isinglass, p. 695). Vulgarly the term Isinglass Isinglass, 

 is sometimes given to Mica. The English word is a corruption of the Dutch 

 huisenblas ( = sturgeon-bladder). It may be obtained from many substances, and 

 according to the Greeks it was icethyocolla or fish-glue. As already explained, the 



finer qualities are the "sounds " or "air-bladders" of fish. The true isinglass 

 of European commerce is the sound of the sturgeon (.4fipen*rr), Brazilian 

 isinglass is derived from one or two species of * /! . and the Indian isinglass 

 from one or other of the following fishes: i-u <n-ntiro*tri*. bni-miinirH*. 

 rn-intiiN, /ni<'ni-inN. /<i./ivi . noun, and Hngor (Day, I.e. i., 17388). These are 

 largely prepared and salted on the Western Coast (Karachi), but at the mouths 

 of the Ganges there is also a fair and improving trade: outworn in*n* mtnri* 

 (l.c.i., 190); iHitiitiuiH innrnintn* (I.e. ii., 127), the birralli of Orissa ; o. -i6-- 

 (I.e. ii., 128), the jarang-gigi (or pechepierre) of Pondicherry ; *rifijot 

 iinoi-in-n (I.e. i., 512), the gouraka ; * MH* Hnmntiinn (I.e. i., 449), the 

 damba ; n,>,,<n,i ynnyeticn (I.e. i., 145); and the I'mbi-imi t-nnHfiin (I.e. ii., 

 110). [Of. Royle, Prod. Isinglass; Day, I.e. (Fishes) i., 3, 5, 7-63; Hunter, 

 Imp. Oaz., iii., 434.] 



4. FISH MANURE. When procured in excess of demand for human food, large Manure. 



543 



