FISHES AND FISHING. 129 



Mr. Parkes entertained the opinion that fish have 

 the same power to decompose, and exist upon the 

 decomposition of water, as vegetables ; and to prove 

 his position, he cites the case of a fish which was 

 kept in a vessel, and had no food given to it during 

 three years, at the end of which period it had in- 

 creased in size so much, as to be too large for its 

 domicile. This he considered a satisfactory and 

 confirmatory evidence of the fact. I^ow with every 

 respect for that excellent chemist, I cannot consider 

 this any proof of the correctness of his theory. 

 "Water, I admit, is decomposed by vegetables, and 

 resolves itself into gas, but this sort of food would 

 never fatten a fish. No ! It is the large quantity of 

 animalcules there are in water, upon which fish in a 

 state of confinement exist ; and as it could not live in 

 that state unless the water were frequently changed, 

 so there must be a constant supply of animalcules. 

 To prove that my opinion is correct, place a fish in 

 distilled water, or in filtered water, or spring water, 

 either of which decomposes as readily as any other, 

 and he will very soon die in the first, and will not 

 live long in the two latter. 



The utility of the air-bladder of fish to the human 

 race, appears to be completely overlooked in many 

 parts of the world, where it might be prepared to 

 benefit the inhabitants. Fish glue, or isinglass, is 



