ON THE COOKING OF FISH. 235 



herbs and spices, into a cake, which is baked, and is 

 by no means to be despised. 



We have a vast variety of most admirable fish in- 

 cluded in our Fauna, and it is doubtful if any country 

 in the world can equal us in this respect. We have 

 waters unlimited in extent, both salt and fresh : 

 rivers by thousands and thousands of miles, and 

 lakes, ponds, canals, and other waters to the extent 

 of hundreds of thousands of acres ; and a great 

 question is now beginning to dawn upon the minds 

 of the workaday world of scientific naturalists and 

 others viz., what do we do with them ? what do they 

 yield ? and what ought they to yield ? 



Is the land more naturally prolific than the water ? 

 Assuredly not. Two, or twenty, or two hundred acres 

 of water will produce double the weight of animal food 

 that two, twenty, or two hundred acres of land will, if 

 as carefully tilled, and with this striking difference 

 that in the case of the production as regards land, 

 there are very heavy working and other expenses ; 

 in the case of water there are comparatively few. 

 Fish, even if left to themselves, will eat and grow, 

 and nature will provide the means of sustenance, 

 without either barns or stables, teams or fences, seeds 

 or farming implements, or even draining : nay, in this 

 instance, draining (if one felt inclined to make a grim 

 joke) might be held decidedly injurious, as indeed is 



