84 MANUAL OF NATURAL HISTORY. 



" Account of the Voyage of the ' Samarang/ " * as- 

 sembles in numbers, and holds a kind of " solemn 

 aquatic concert ;" and lastly, the electric fishes, such 

 as the Torpedo and Gymnotus, resent the rude in- 

 terference of strangers in a very unpleasant manner. 



Fish are very important in an economical and 

 commercial point of view, and are taken in great 

 numbers for the sake of the food and other products 

 they afford. Fisheries are encouraged and protected 

 by all enlightened governments ; and in our coun- 

 try, those more especially of the Cod, Ling, Coalfish, 

 Torsk, Herring, Pilchard, Salmon, and Mackarel, 

 afford employment to many thousands. The oil 

 afforded by their livers is used for light by many 

 northern races, and in Britain is also similarly em- 

 ployed in places along the sea-coast. Of late, that 

 yielded by the Cod, Haddock, and Skate has been 

 extensively administered as a medicinal agent in 

 consumption, with wonderful results. 



It is not, however, only in modern times or among 

 civilized nations that fishes are sought after and 

 prized ; as food they have been in use from the ear- 

 liest times. Whole tribes have been recorded by 

 Pliny, Strabo, and other ancient writers, as Ichthy- 

 ophagi, or fish-eaters ; and among the most savage 

 people, rude hooks and other implements for their 

 capture are in constant employment. The spawn- 

 ing season varies in different species. Previous to it, 

 some migrate from fresh to salt water, others from 

 salt to fresh, in their endeavours to attain which 



* Adams' Nat. Hist, of the Voyage of H.M. S. " Samarang," p. 259. 



