23 



regarded as lying between fifty and three hundred miles 

 distant therefrom. 



I shall now make a few general remarks on the practical 

 treatment of fish in preparing it for the table. Our obser- 

 vations will commence at the point at which the fish leaves 

 the fishmonger's scale, or if not weighed, has been valued 

 to the purchaser, and has become his property. Before 

 entering into his possession, however, it first undergoes the 

 process technically known as " cleaning." This differs con- 

 siderably according to the fish to be dealt with, but in all 

 cases it involves the loss of what is often a valuable portion 

 of nutritive matter. The gills, liver, intestines, &c., are 

 first removed, often some skin, then portions of the fins, 

 sometimes the head also. All these are known as 

 " cuttings," and are sold at a low price to the poor, at the 

 close of the day, many of whom, I am happy to say, 

 appreciate their value and profit thereby. 



To illustrate the result of this process for the purchaser, 

 let us see what happens in one instance, as an example, no 

 doubt an extreme one, but nevertheless occurring daily in 

 every fishmonger's shop. A pair of soles is bought and 

 ordered to be sent home in fillets : eight fillets accordingly 

 arrive. The soles were first skinned, the internal parts 

 taken out, after which a long fillet, consisting of all the flesh 

 on either side of the central bone, both front and back, was 

 removed, making four from each fish. The whole skeleton, 

 with the head, fins and tail, forming an entire piece, remains 

 as "cuttings" in the shop. Now this piece will be found 

 just equal to the fillets in weight, and is in fact one half of 

 the fish ; and it will make excellent stock for soup, a form 

 of food greatly neglected in this country. I have an illus- 

 tration of this here, for the purpose of showing what a large 

 amount of waste occurs not only at the purchase, but may 



