328 SOFT-FINNED ABDOMINAL FISHES. 



supported by the success of his trade ; for the money 

 paid annually for the exportation of pilchards is known 

 to amount to near fifty thousand pounds. 



The increasing power of animals of this description 

 actually exceeds calculation or belief; for if a single 

 herring was suffered to multiply twenty years unmo- 

 lested, the progeny would be greater than ten globes 

 could contain ; therefore we are not to look upon the 

 larger fish in the light of plunderers, but rather as 

 friends and benefactors to mankind. Without their 

 assistance the sea would become overcharged with the 

 burden of its own productions; and that element, which 

 distributes health and plenty to our shores, would other- 

 wise load them with putrefaction and disease. 



Though all the species live upon each other, they all 

 are subject to an enemy which prey upon themselves ; 

 for they all are infested with a peculiar kind of worm, 

 which either buries itself in their jaws, their intestines, 

 or their fins ; and, notwithstanding their reputed lon- 

 gevity, epidemic disorders affect the whole tribe. That 

 numbers of them inflict poisonous wounds, is a truth 

 that cannot be disputed or denied ; and at JNew Pro- 

 vidence, (one of the Bahama Islands,) greater part of the 

 fish are capable of giving exquisite pain, and are fre- 

 quently fatal to those who are imprudent enough to eat 

 them. Dr. Granger tells us, that, in the island of St. 

 Christopher's, there are a species of fish caught at one 

 end of the island which are always dangerous in their 

 effects ; whilst those of the same nature, which are 

 caught at a remote distance, were beneficial to the 

 health, and pleasing to the taste. It is difficult to ac- 

 count for the cause of these effects, which the obnox- 

 ious race of these animals are able to produce ; but 

 fortunate is it for those who arc born in a climate 



