TOETURE OF EELS. 241 



is the very condition necessary for the success of the 

 operation. This cruel necessity cannot be dispensed 

 with without the risk of this species of industry losing 

 the fruit of its toil. If immersed after death, the en- 

 trails of these creatures, absorbing too little salt, would 

 corrupt, while the outer flesh would present a deceitful 

 appearance. If established usage was departed from, 

 there would be a risk of seeing at table superb eels, 

 which, when opened, would exhale a fetid odour ; and 

 therefore the merchants consider immersion after death 

 a fraud, against which they protect themselves by open- 

 ing and smelling the mouths of the large eels which 

 they purchase." 



Now, as our philosophical friends in France would 

 say, " here we have to do with a question of high mor- 

 ality." Yes, truly. God has given unto omnivorous 

 man " all things richly to enjoy/' But surely there 

 are restrictions on the mode of that enjoyment. The 

 merciful Being, who of old time so sternly forbade a 

 Jew to be cruel to the lower animals, cannot be ration- 

 ally supposed to look with complacency on a Christian 

 torturing fish because the torture fills his purse, or 

 helps to stimulate his luxurious appetite. 



When taken out of the boiling liquor they are em- 

 bouched, as M. Coste phrases it; or, to speak intelligibly, 

 their mouths are opened, and, by means of a wooden 

 ram-rod, powdered salt is introduced into their intes- 

 tines. They are then washed in lukewarm water, fast- 

 ened together in pairs, and suspended from long poles 

 under the floor of the kitchen, or of some heated cham- 

 ber. When thus dried they assume a bronzed appear- 

 ance, which causes them to be termed smoked, a term 

 likewise applied to all fish prepared by being dried, al- 

 though smoke is not employed at all. 



We have thus given our readers some idea of the 

 valuable contents of M. Coste's splendid work. We 

 have still, however, a great deal to say in elucidation 

 of its importance as an addition to those works which 

 treat of alimentary substances. 



Q 



