66 ON THE POISONOUS FISHES 



amongst them. On the coasts of St Domingo, where I served 

 during the years 1796, 1797, and 1798, and where the British 

 troops, under the scarcity of fresh provisions, always depended 

 much' on the sea for subsistence, only two well-authenticated 

 instances of the kind came within my personal observation. 

 Had there been others in the army, it is most probable that I 

 would have heard of them. The nature of the accident, and 

 of the morbid phenomena consequent upon it, was so very si- 

 milar to what I had much more recent opportunity of witnes- 

 sing at Guadaloupe, in the year 1815, as to render it unneces- 

 sary to trespass on the time of the Society with a detail of 

 both occurrences. I shall therefore proceed to lay before 

 them an account of the last, as being the best within my me- 

 mory, as well as being officially authenticated by documents 

 that will be referred to in the course of this paper. 



Shortly after the last capture of that island, under circum- 

 stances much the same as at St Domingo, while the British 

 troops were daily making use, without scruple, of whatever 

 fishes were offered to them in the markets of the island, the 

 Quartermaster-General, attracted by the appearance of a par- 

 ticularly fine horse-eyed cavallo *, purchased it for his family, 

 the members of which, including servants, were numerous (not 

 fewer than twenty). All partook of it, and all, without excep- 

 tion, were taken ill within a few hours afterwards. The symp- 

 toms in some were cholera morbus, with florid patches on the 

 skin, not unlike what is seen in phlogistic scarlatina, only the 

 parts affected were more swelled and raised ; and, in all, 

 great and most distressing pains over the thinly covered 

 bones, more particularly the bones of the face, with great fe- 

 brile 



* Harang aux gros yenx of the French, and Scomber of naturalists. 



