|9ojwlar HBtcttonarg of &mmatctf 



537 



might be ; when, quite unexpectedly, he 

 received a letter from Mr. M'Clelland, in 

 which that naturalist stated that he had 

 examined this fish, and found it to be the 

 Polynemus Sde of Hamilton's ' Fishes of the 

 Ganges ; ' he moreover discovered that an 

 individual of that species weighing two 

 pounds would yield sixty-five grains of pure 

 isinglass, an article which in India sells at 

 sixteen rupees (17. 12s.) per pound. Think- 

 ing it highly probable that other species of 

 Polynemus besides the P. Sele will yield 

 isinglass, Dr. Cantor proceeds to give a short 

 account of those species which came under 

 his observation while attached as surgeon to 

 the Honourable Company's Survey of the 

 sea-face of the Gangetic delta. 



" ' The species best known,' says the author, 

 ' is the Polynemus Risua of Hamilton (Pol. 

 longijilis, Cuvier ; the TUFSEE, or MANGO- 

 FISH, of the Anglo- Indians) : this inhabits 

 the Bay of Bengal and the estuaries of the 

 Ganges, but enters the mouths of the rivers 

 even higher up than Calcutta during the 

 breeding season (April and May), when the 

 fish is considered in its highest perfection, 

 and is generally sought as a great delicacy. 

 Tliis species is the smallest, for its length 

 seldom exceeds eight or nine inches, and 

 one and a half or two inches in depth.' It 

 is remarkable for the great length of fila- 

 ments, or free rays, of the pectoral fins, these 

 being about twice the length of the body, 

 and seven in number on each side." 



In Dr. Shaw's Zoology is a curious and in- 

 teresting account (taken from Bruce's Tra- 

 vels) of a species called Polynemus Niloticits. 

 " This, according to Mr. Bruce, who describes 

 and figures it in the appendix to his Travels, 

 is a large species, and may vie, both for the 

 elegance of its form and its taste, with any 

 fish inhabiting the rivers running either into 

 the Mediterranean or the Ocean. The spe- 

 cimen from which Mr. Bruce's figure was 

 taken weighed thirty-two pounds, but it is 

 said often to arrive at the weight of seventy 

 pounds or more. It is an inhabitant of the 

 river Nile, where it is by no means uncom- 

 mon, as far up the river as Syene and the 

 first cataract : the whole body is covered 

 with scales of a brillant silver colour, so as 

 to resemble spangles lying close together ; 

 and there is no variety of tinge on the fish, 

 except a shade of red on the end of the nose, 

 which is fat and fleshy. 



" We are informed by Mr. Bruce, that in 

 order to take this fish the Egyptian peasants 

 prepare a pretty large mass or cake, consist- 

 ing of oil, clay, flour, honey, and straw, 

 kneading it with their feet till it is well in- 

 corporated : they then take two handfuls of 

 dates, and break them into pieces about the 

 size of the point of a finger, and stick them 

 in different parts of the mass, into the heart 

 of which they put seven or eight hooks with 

 dates upon them, and a string of strong 

 whipcord to each : this mass of paste is then 

 conveyed by the fisherman or shepherd into 

 the stream, the man sitting for this purpose 

 on a blown-up goat-skin. When arrived at 

 the middle, he drops the mass in the deepest 

 part of the stream, and cautiously holding 

 the ends of each of the strings slack, so as 



not to pull the dates and hooks out of the 

 middle of the composition, he makes to shore 

 again, a little below the spot where he has 

 sunk the mass, and separating the ends of 

 the strings, ties each of them, without strain- 

 ing, to a palm-branch fastened on the shore, 

 to the end of which is fastened a small bell 

 He then goes and feeds his cattle, or digs his 

 trenches, or lies down to sleep : in the mean 

 time the cake beginning to dissolve, the 

 small pieces of date fall off, and, flowing 

 down the stream, are eagerly seized on by 

 the fishes as they pass ; they rush up the 

 stream, picking up the floating pieces as 

 they go, till at length they arrive at the cake 

 itself, and voraciously falling to work at the 

 dates which are buried in it, each fish in 

 swallowing a date, swallows also the hook 

 in it, and feeling himself fast, makes off as 

 speedily as possible : the consequence is, that 

 in endeavouring to escape from the line by 

 I which he is held, he pulls the palm-branch 

 to which it is fastened, and thus gives notice 

 of his capture by ringing the bell. The 

 I fisherman runs, and having secured the fish 

 I puts a strong iron ring through his jaw, ties 

 a few yards of cord to it, and again commits 

 j him to the water, fastening the cord well to 

 the shore. This is practised in order to 

 ; preserve the fish ready for sale, since fish in 

 | general, when dead, will not keep long in 

 ' these regions. It is rarely that on those oc- 

 casions a single hook is found empty." 



There are several other species found in 

 the Indian, African, and American seas, 

 bearing a tolerably near resemblance to the 

 Mango-fish before described. 



POLYODONTA. A name applied by 

 Lamarck and De Blainville to the Ark- 

 sheJIs, &c. of collectors, comprehending the 

 forms collected by Linnaeus under the genus 

 Area. The word signifies " many-toothed;" 

 and the family is defined by Lamarck : 

 " cardinal teeth small, numerous, entering, 

 and disposed in each valve in either a 

 straight, a curved, or a broken line." 



PpLYOMMATUS. A genus of diurnal 

 Lepidoptera, so called from many of the 

 ' species having numerous eye-like marks 

 ] on the under side. There are many British 

 S species. 



PoLYOMMArrs Anr.us ; or LEAD BLUE 

 BUTTERFLY. The male of this insect has 

 the wings above deep blue, tinged with lilac, 

 the hinder margin broad and black, the 

 costa white ; beneath grayish-blue : an- 

 terior wings with a central ocellus, behind 

 . which is a bent series of six ocelli ; and 

 I the hinder margin with a double band 

 I of black spots : posterior wings with three 

 ocelli at the base placed obliquely ; a tri- 

 angular discoidal spot, with a large black 

 dot in the centre ; behind this a waved series 

 of ocelli, and a band of orange tawny, con- 

 taining several brilliant silvery blue spots 

 on a black ground, and bordered internally 

 with a series of black crescents, and exter- 

 nally with whitish : the outer margin of all 

 the wings black ; cilia white. The female 

 is brown above, the disc sometimes bright 

 blue, with or without a marginal tawny 

 band ; beneath grayish, with the ocelli larger 



