68o POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



who has built up a large business or accumulated a handsome do- 

 main is exceedingly averse to the prospect of having it cut up and 

 dispersed, and is therefore careful to have but one child, so that 

 it may descend unimpaired to him. The coincidence that France 

 is the only country where this system prevails, and is, at the same 

 time, the only one where the population is decreasing, is striking 

 enough to suggest a connection between the two phenomena. The 

 law works mischievously in this respect, and requires modification 

 in the direction of giving the parent larger privileges of testamen- 

 tary disposition. 



Thus, the state should in every way and in every department 

 of law and administration manifest its profound respect for large 

 families; it should set the example on this point, for it is the 

 party most largely interested. Translated for the Popular Science 

 Monthly from the Revue Scientifique. 



WEST INDIAN POISONOUS FISHES. 



BY JAMES MACDONALD ROGEES, F. E. C. S., 



STAFF BUBGEON, B. N. 



AT a time when so much attention is being paid to the West 

 Indian Islands as regards their politics, social condition, and 

 natural history it may not be out of place to briefly consider the 

 subject of the poisonous fishes to be found in the neighboring 

 seas. Considering the number of unwholesome fish abounding in 

 these waters and the numerous cases of illness caused by them, I 

 was surprised on investigation to find that so little appeared to be 

 known or written on the subject. During my three-years' cruise 

 in the West Indies the study of those fishes reputed to be poisonous 

 was forced upon me by reason of the numerous cases of illness among 

 the sailors of my own ship. When it is asserted that there are no 

 less than sixty varieties of noxious fishes to be found in Cuban 

 waters alone, it seems desirable that those who are about to settle in 

 these parts should have some general idea as to what fish to choose 

 and what to avoid. 



Colored fishermen are not too particular about hawking un- 

 wholesome fish in the streets, even when its sale is forbidden in the 

 market, and numerous cases have come under my notice where the 

 unwary purchaser has paid the penalty by a sharp and painful illness. 

 One of the great delights of our sailors is to land on some sandy 

 beach, provided with a large seining net, in order to catch fish, the 

 consumption of which varies the monotony of salt beef and pork. 

 On examining the hauls they made I invariably found some un- 



