FISHES AND FISHIIfG. 293 



after they are dead, by means of ice, and chemical 

 preparations. 



Dr. Davy says, " He has made some experiments 

 on the degree of nutriment there is in fish, and the 

 results go far to prove that there is much nourishment 

 in them, little less than in butchers* meat, weight 

 for weight ; and in effect it may be more nourishing, 

 considering how, from its softer fibre, fish is more 

 easily digested. Moreover, there is, I ^find, in fish 

 (in sea fish) a substance which does not exist in the 

 flesh of land animals, viz., iodine — a substance which 

 may have a beneficial effect on the health, and tend 

 to prevent the production of scrofulous and tubercular 

 disease — the latter in the form of pulmonary con- 

 sumption, one of the most cruel and fatal with which 

 civilized society, and the highly educated and refined 

 are afflicted. Comparative trials prove that in the 

 majority of fish the proportion of solid matter — that 

 is, the matter which remains after perfect desiccation, 

 or the expulsion of the aqueous part — is little inferior 

 to that of the several kinds of butchers' meat, game, 

 or poultry. And if we give our attention to classes 

 of people, classed as to quality of food they princi- 

 pally subsist on, we find that the ichthyophagous 

 class are especially strong, healthy, and prolific. In 

 no other class than that of fishers do we see larger 

 families, handsomer women, or more robust and active 



