﻿IN 
  RELATION 
  TO 
  DIET. 
  601 
  

  

  These 
  results 
  I 
  would 
  wish 
  to 
  have 
  considered 
  merely 
  as 
  I 
  have 
  proposed 
  in 
  

   introducing 
  them, 
  viz., 
  as 
  approximate 
  ones. 
  Some 
  of 
  them 
  may 
  not 
  be 
  perfectly 
  

   correct, 
  owing 
  to 
  circumstances 
  of 
  a 
  vitiating 
  kind, 
  especially 
  the 
  time 
  of 
  keeping. 
  

   Thus, 
  in 
  the 
  case 
  of 
  the 
  whiting, 
  which 
  was 
  brought 
  from 
  Chester, 
  its 
  specific 
  

   gravity, 
  and 
  its 
  proportion 
  of 
  solid 
  matter 
  may 
  be 
  given 
  a 
  little 
  too 
  high, 
  owing 
  to 
  

   some 
  loss 
  of 
  moisture 
  before 
  the 
  trials 
  on 
  it 
  were 
  made. 
  Casting 
  the 
  eye 
  over 
  the 
  

   first 
  table, 
  it 
  will 
  be 
  seen 
  that 
  the 
  range 
  of 
  nutritive 
  power, 
  as 
  denoted 
  by 
  the 
  

   specific 
  gravity, 
  and 
  the 
  proportion 
  of 
  solid 
  matter, 
  is 
  pretty 
  equable, 
  except 
  in 
  a 
  

   very 
  few 
  instances, 
  and 
  chiefly 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  salmon 
  and 
  mackerel. 
  The 
  one 
  ex- 
  

   hibiting 
  a 
  high 
  specific 
  gravity, 
  with 
  a 
  large 
  proportion 
  of 
  solid 
  matter 
  ; 
  the 
  other, 
  

   a 
  low 
  specific 
  gravity, 
  with 
  a 
  still 
  larger 
  proportion 
  of 
  matter, 
  viz., 
  muscle 
  and 
  

   oil, 
  and, 
  in 
  consequence 
  of 
  the 
  latter, 
  the 
  inferior 
  specific 
  gravity. 
  A 
  portion 
  of 
  

   the 
  mackerel, 
  I 
  may 
  remark, 
  merely 
  by 
  drying 
  and 
  pressure 
  between 
  folds 
  of 
  blot- 
  

   ting 
  paper, 
  lost 
  15-52 
  per 
  cent, 
  of 
  oil. 
  Oil 
  also 
  abounded 
  in 
  the 
  sea-trout 
  and 
  eel, 
  

   and 
  hence 
  the 
  large 
  amount 
  of 
  residue 
  they 
  afforded. 
  

  

  Comparing 
  seriatim 
  the 
  first 
  table 
  with 
  the 
  second, 
  the 
  degree 
  of 
  difference 
  

   of 
  nutritive 
  power 
  of 
  those 
  articles 
  standing 
  highest 
  in 
  each, 
  appears 
  to 
  be 
  incon- 
  

   siderable, 
  and 
  not 
  great 
  in 
  the 
  majority 
  of 
  the 
  others, 
  exclusive 
  of 
  the 
  liquids, 
  — 
  

   hardly 
  in 
  accordance 
  with 
  popular 
  and 
  long 
  received 
  notions. 
  

  

  2. 
  Of 
  the 
  Peculiar 
  Qualities 
  of 
  Fish, 
  as 
  Articles 
  of 
  Diet. 
  

  

  I 
  am 
  not 
  prepared 
  to 
  enter 
  into 
  any 
  minute 
  detail 
  on 
  this 
  important 
  subject, 
  

   from 
  want 
  of 
  sufficient 
  data. 
  

  

  That 
  fish 
  generally 
  are 
  easy 
  of 
  digestion, 
  excepting 
  such 
  as 
  have 
  oil 
  inter- 
  

   fused 
  in 
  their 
  muscular 
  tissue, 
  appears 
  to 
  be 
  commonly 
  admitted, 
  as 
  the 
  result 
  of 
  

   experience,— 
  a 
  result 
  that 
  agrees 
  well 
  with 
  the 
  greater 
  degree 
  of 
  softness 
  of 
  their 
  

   muscular 
  fibre, 
  comparing 
  it 
  with 
  that 
  either 
  of 
  birds 
  or 
  of 
  the 
  mammalia, 
  such 
  

   as 
  are 
  used 
  for 
  food. 
  

  

  A 
  more 
  interesting 
  consideration 
  is, 
  whether 
  fish, 
  as 
  a 
  diet, 
  is 
  more 
  conducive 
  

   to 
  health 
  than 
  the 
  flesh 
  of 
  the 
  animals 
  just 
  mentioned, 
  and 
  especially 
  to 
  the 
  pre- 
  

   vention 
  of 
  scrofulous 
  and 
  tubercular 
  disease. 
  

  

  From 
  such 
  information 
  as 
  I 
  have 
  been 
  able 
  to 
  collect, 
  I 
  am 
  disposed 
  to 
  think 
  

   that 
  they 
  are. 
  It 
  is 
  well 
  known 
  that 
  fishermen 
  and 
  their 
  families, 
  living 
  princi- 
  

   pally 
  on 
  fish, 
  are 
  commonly 
  healthy, 
  and 
  may 
  I 
  not 
  say 
  above 
  the 
  average 
  ; 
  and 
  

   I 
  think 
  it 
  is 
  pretty 
  certain, 
  that 
  they 
  are 
  less 
  subject 
  to 
  the 
  diseases 
  referred 
  to 
  

   than 
  any 
  other 
  class, 
  without 
  exception. 
  At 
  Plymouth, 
  at 
  the 
  Public 
  Dispensary, 
  

   a 
  good 
  opportunity 
  is 
  afforded 
  of 
  arriving 
  at 
  some 
  positive 
  conclusion— 
  some 
  exact 
  

   knowledge 
  of 
  the 
  comparative 
  prevalency 
  of 
  these 
  diseases 
  in 
  the 
  several 
  classes 
  

   of 
  the 
  community. 
  The 
  able 
  physician 
  of 
  that 
  institution, 
  my 
  friend, 
  Dr 
  Cook- 
  

   worthy, 
  at 
  my 
  request, 
  has 
  had 
  the 
  goodness 
  to 
  consult 
  its 
  records, 
  and 
  from 
  a 
  

   communication 
  with 
  which 
  he 
  has 
  favoured 
  me, 
  it 
  appears 
  that 
  of 
  654 
  cases 
  of 
  

  

  