ccxliii 



nga-pee. Some of the larger species of Macrones and Anus which are 

 found in fresh waters are not esteemed, as they consume ordure whenever 

 procurable : perhaps it may be considered questionable whether cholera 

 may not be spread by this agency, if the fish are eaten before being 

 thoroughly cleaned or cooked. This family of fishes, with the exceptions 

 noted, does not appear to be very wholesome, being, as a rule, rather rich, 

 or else hard and indigestible. Their flavour is likewise generally insipid, 

 still the Aor, Macrones aor, in some localities is excellent, whilst the 

 absence of bones renders the operation of eating it, n.ot a service of 

 danger, as in many Asiatic fresh-water fishes, 



421. The carps, Oyptinid& } which abound in the waters of the 

 plains of India, are all more or less useful 

 ay as food > a ! tho ^h Offering widely in their 

 gastronomic value. But as the mountain 

 regions are approached the value of some as food becomes impeached, 

 at least when eaten by strangers, although generally to the residents, 

 and perhaps many of the visitants, no deleterious effects are produced. 

 Dr. McClelland observed of a mountain, barbel, Oreinus progastus, that 

 ({ this species is sa.id by the natives of Assam to cause swimming in the 

 head, and temporary loss of reason for several days, without any 

 particular derangement of the stomach. It is the most herbivorous of 

 the barbels/' fa statement open to doubt] " and, like some of the 

 gudgeons, tends rapidly to clecay after death, and in the abdominal cavity 

 3 copious oily secretion is found/'' pn common with other Indian carps 

 before the breeding season and after they have recovered from such,] 

 which is probably the ca.use of its bad effects. * * * Mr. Griffith 

 was informed by the fishermen that, if eaten, it occasions all the symptoms 

 of drunkenness, which coincides with what I have myself heard regarding 

 its effects." (Trans- Asiatic Society, Bengal, xix, page 344-.) The late 

 )r. Jerdon informed me that he had witnessed these symptoms amongst} 

 his own servants, produced from eating some species of mountain fishes. 

 When in the Chumba State in the Himalayas, I found another mountaii} 

 barbel, Oreinus sinuatus, very common, but the natives asserted that it 

 never occasioned uncomfortable symptoms, although they were consumed 

 by every class of the community. Some European residents, and others 

 who were visitors, likewise eat them with impunity ; however, one of my 

 native servants who tried one declined a second attempt, as he was 

 unwell for 24 hours subsequently, Low down the Ravi, and in some of 

 the other Panjab rivers, I have heard of deleterious effects being occasioned 

 from partaking of these fishes. Certainly at Chumba the fish were netted 

 and not captured by means of poisoning the water. 



422. Amongst the Clupeida, or herring family, which abound in 



Berring family ; members of the Indian seas, some being visitants to the 



it ocpasioijally or always poison- fpesh-waters for breeding purposes, and a 



few entirely residing there ; several marine 



forms have been reputed as poisonous, which in some instances appears 

 to be due to the food which they have eaten. Engraulis boelama, a small 

 anchovy, has been accused by Dussumier of occasioning death in a few 

 hours, if dressed without its head and intestines having been first 

 removed; they abound, however, at the Audamans, where they are largely 

 eaten, and there is no record in that settlement of any individual having 



