ON POISONOUS FISHES AND FISH-POISONS. 281 



morbid affection. When the sickness does not end in death — and, happily, 

 this is not the most ordinary issue of it — one sees oftentimes the virus 

 causing pathological phenomena altogether singular. The pains in the 

 articulations of the limbs become very acute ; the nails of the feet and the 

 hands fall off without any feeling ; the hah, whose constituent character we 

 know is absolutely the same as that of the nails, finally falls also. These 

 effects in many individual cases are to be seen continuing for a great many 

 years, and an instance has been mentioned to me of a person suffering in 

 this way for five-and-twenty years. I myself," M. Plee proceeds to say, 

 " have not been a witness to any accident of poisoning by the becune, and 

 I write only what I have heard others relate, who are well acquainted 

 with such occurrences, and who are worthy of credit." (Vol. iii., liv. iii., 

 ch. xxxi.) 



The very young fish, six inches long, are without teeth in the lower jaw. 

 M. Poey, who has published a highly-embellished work on the Natural 

 History of Cuba, in which especial attention is devoted to the ichthyology 

 of its seas, says that " the means of recognising barracoutas that are in a 

 condition to produce mischief (etat mal-faisant) is that the root of their teeth 

 will he found of a blackened colour ; and that wanting this mark, the fish may 

 be eat without fear." (C. & V., Hist. Natur. des Poissons, vol. iii.) 



I can say for this test, that seeing one day a fine-looking barracouta in a 

 tray for sale, nearly if not quite three feet in length, and apparently well- 

 conditioned, I examined the teeth, and finding them faintly purple at the 

 root, I remarked that the fine look of the fish would induce purchasers 

 without doubt, but we must be prepared to hear of injurious consequences 

 to those who should eat of it ; and it happened next morning that complaint 

 was common in the town (Spanish Town) that many had suffered the well- 

 known sickness from eating poisonous barracouta. 



I should have added to the extract from the manuscripts of M. Plee, that 

 " it is a remarkable fact that the barracouta being salted, causes no injury ;" 

 that " at Santa Cruz, it is the usage never to eat the fish till next clay, 

 and then not till after salting it ;" and that " we may ask the question 

 whether salt should not be esteemed an antidote for barracouta poison ;" 

 because not only is the salted just as poisonous as the unsalted fish, but our 

 newspapers, at this very time, record an instance in which four persons are 

 suffering from fish-poison — and that fish-poison, corned or salted barracouta. 



All the fishes we have been considering, and treating of as adventitiously 

 poisonous, belong to the great division Acanthopterygian or hard-spined 

 fishes : — we proceed to consider now some of the soft-spined or Mala- 

 coptertgians.' One species is at all times to be found dangerous eating. 

 It has certain specific marks. The sprat of the Caribbean Sea, the fish 

 referred to, is not properly a Clupea, but one of the allied family Alosa or 

 Shad. The opinion that this is the only fish to be considered perma- 

 nently poisonous, and that the larger fishes become deleterious in flesh by 

 feeding on these shoals, is altogether gratuitous as an explanation of the 

 fatal and harmless influences among them at different seasons. It was 



