FISHES THE FOOD OF MAN. 9 



With regard to the fish kept by the ancient 

 Egyptians in small ornamental ponds, as their 

 paintings show to have been a general custom, 

 it is probable they were consecrated, or held 

 sacred ; such a practice, at least, appears to 

 have prevailed in the east from an early period, 

 and is, perhaps, not yet exploded. " Sir John 

 Chardin twice mentions fishes reputed to be 

 sacred at this day in the east. In his third 

 volume, he tells us, * that at a town called 

 Comicha, he found, in the courtyard of a mosque, 

 two reservoirs, or basins of water, twenty paces 

 from each other, full of fishes, some of which 

 had rings of brass, some of silver, others of 

 gold/ i I apprehended, 7 he says, ' that these 

 fish had the rings in their nostrils, by way of 

 ornament ; but I was informed that it was in 

 token of their being consecrated. None dared 

 to take them ; such a sacrilege was supposed 

 to draw after it the vengeance of the saint to 

 whom they were consecrated ; and his votaries, 

 not contented to leave them to his resentment, 

 took upon themselves to punish the transgres- 

 sors. An Armenian Christian, who had ven- 

 tured to take some of these sacred fish, was 

 killed upon the spot by one of them.' This is a 

 relic of ancient superstition. Dr. Richard 

 Chandler, in his Travels in Asia Minor, gives a 



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