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NOTES ON BARE FISHES SOLD FOR FOOD 

 IN EAST LONDON. 



By F. J. Stubbs. 



During the rearrangement of the collections in the White- 

 chapel Museum (one of the Stepney Borough Museums), I com- 

 menced to prepare and exhibit a series of the food fishes on sale 

 in East London, and, as a result of the attention paid to the 

 subject, I am able to offer the following notes on the rarer and 

 more interesting species. At first we purchased the material 

 haphazard, generally from the barrows in the streets, but when 

 our plans became known many of the dealers were good enough 

 to retain for us any out-of-the-way specimens coming into their 

 hands. Most of the stuff was procured in Wentworth Street, a 

 picturesque market lying between Aldgate and Bishopsgate ; the 

 inhabitants of this quarter are almost entirely aliens, chiefly 

 Continental Jews, and the foodstuffs displayed in the street are 

 often quite foreign to English eyes. 



Freshwater fish of nearly all kinds (excepting such as Burbot, 

 Eels, or Lampreys) are greatly esteemed, and are sold at high 

 prices. Salmon is constantly on sale in its season, and species 

 like Bream or Pike, which do not appeal to the average British 

 palate, are here highly valued. Indeed, so far as coarse fish are 

 concerned, the demand is far in advance of the supply. The 

 freshwater fish are brought from the Continent, either alive or 

 in ice. A certain amount is of British origin, but the supply is 

 erratic, for pisciculture is not a business that has taken root 

 here. Deep-sea trawlers unloading at Billingsgate from Norway, 

 the White Sea, the " Rockall Depression," and the Bay of 

 Biscay are the source of most of the salt-water material. It is, 

 however, next to impossible to ascertain the place of capture of 

 particular specimens, and one can only form an opinion by the 

 general aspect of the barrows on any one day — for example, a 

 display of Torsk, Norway Haddock, and Forkbeard would suggest 

 Zool. 4th ser. vol. XVII. , October, 1913. 2 g 



