70 EDIBLE AND MEDICINAL 



abstract or philosophical principles. One of the motives 

 or causes of the absurd and superstitious notions and 

 practices alluded to, seems to have probably had its rise 

 from the fact that fish inhabit an element which shuts 

 them out, comparatively speaking, from all human inves- 

 tigation as to their habits and modes of life. There 

 is something obviously suggestive of mysteriousness con- 

 nected with this circumstance. The finny tribes do not 

 come in direct contact with man, like terrestrial animals. 

 The powers of procreation, movements, and instincts 

 generally, of the inhabitants of the deep are in great 

 measure hidden from actual observation, and the element 

 they live in has, besides, in its own nature, something 

 awful and impressive, to the rude and uncultivated 

 imaginations of men. The irresistible and impetuous 

 torrent is invested with a power which strikes the mind 

 with fear ; and its natural hostility to the mind of man 

 gives additional impressiveness to its movements. Even 

 the most cultivated and enlightened mind feels an awful 

 grandeur in the contemplation of moving waters, and it is 

 chiefly this circumstance that has led untutored man in all 

 ages and countries to people the banks of streams with 

 divinities, fairies, and genii. There must have been a 

 portion of this impressiveness and mysteriousness carried 

 to the account of the animated beings that inhabit the 

 great abyss of waters, and the natural bias given to the 

 mind to consider everything connected with such an ele- 

 ment as possessing virtues which do not generally belong 



