724 FISH. 



stale fish produces ptomaine poisoning, a fruitful source of disease. 

 Many a case of dyspepsia or weak stomach, numerous fevers and 

 chronic ailments owe their origin to the action of this slow-acting and 

 wholly unsuspected poison taken into the system by eating fish that 

 were not in a suitable condition for food. 



What Constitutes Wholesome Fish. Fish that is eaten 

 immediately after, or very soon after, it is caught is nearly always 

 healthful and nutritious. The exceptions are when the fish are 

 afflicted with some disease, which is rare but is known to occur, or 

 when the fish have been living for some time in water that is made 

 foul by sewerage or other impurities. Fish caught in lakes or in 

 streams of running water are good and wholesome. The flesh of fish 

 contains more phosphate than any other meat and hence it is of great 

 value to add from time to time to the dietary. Its wholesomeness is 

 attested by the splendid physical health and strength of the fishermen 

 on the coast who are compelled to subsist almost wholly on fish. In 

 spite of their poverty and hardships they are strong and robust. 



How to Prepare Fish for the Table. By all odds the best 

 way to prepare fish for eating is the old Indian way of baking it in a 

 cover of fresh clay. The clay keeps in all the natural juices and oils 

 of the fish as well as the delicate flavor that makes it so appetizing. 

 One reason why fish baked in the ashes at a picnic tastes so good is 

 because the ashes serve to preserve or prevent the escape of the true 

 fish flavor. When baked in the oven, or when boiled and especially 

 when fried, all or nearly all of this delicious flavor escapes into the 

 air. Try the other method and you will be surprised at the difference. 

 The coat of clay is put on over the scales which come off with the clay 

 when broken open. The next best method is to bake the fish in a 

 closed pan in a tight oven. Then follows broiling, boiling, frying and 

 other more complicated methods of preparing and serving fish. 



When Fish is Not Fit for Food. The flesh of fish being 

 softer than the flesh of animals, it decays more rapidly. Besides the 

 fish passes its life in the water which contains much less oxygen than 

 the air, hence when taken into the air the oxygen attacks the muscular 

 portions and starts decay in them very quickly after the fish is dead. 

 This partly decayed muscular tissue, if taken into the stomach, acts as 

 a slow poison and is the cause of a great deal of dysentery and other 

 troubles. Fish should be killed as soon as taken out of the water, by 

 driving an awl into their heads or by cutting off their heads. They 

 should never be allowed to die. They are no more fit to eat when 

 they have died a slow, lingering death by suffocation than is a steer or 

 a sheep or a chicken that has perished in the same manner. When a 

 fish is not to be eaten as soon as caught, it should either be kept in 

 water or else frozen. Freezing does not kill fish. If carefully and 

 gradually thawed out they will swim away as if nothing had occurred, 

 and they may be kept a long time in this frozen state. 



How to Tell Fresh Fish from Stale. Fresh fish may be 

 rcognized first by the firmness of the flesh and bright sheen of the 



