464 INDIAN CYPRINIDiE. 



cies, science, while it exhibits varieties as numerous almost as the stars, teaches 

 us at the same time how to strip the subject of vagueness arising from this 

 cause, and amidst the countless species which inhabit our seas, directs our at- 

 tention and our energies to a few only, and of these the Sulea, or Polynemus 

 sele, Buch. is the one which from its bulk, its habits, and its qualities in every 

 way seems capable of becoming a permanent benefit to society. It ap- 

 pears to be the Cod-fish of the tropics, and equals its representative in the 

 northern seas in all those qualities which render that species so invaluable ; 

 but from its bulk it is unmanageable by the Indian fishermen, who are also 

 without the means of preserving it.* These however are not sufficient rea- 

 sons why an article that might add an exhaustless supply to the common 

 stock of food should be altogether lost, now that an European spirit, under 

 the influence of a paternal government, begins to infuse itself in all 

 things connected with the resources of India. 



* It must have been long known that the difficulty of preserving meat depends more on the 

 state of the atmosphere in regard to electricity and moisture than on temperature. In Calcutta, 

 in the month of December, when the mean temperature is about 60°, it is not uncommon to 

 keep meat before it is dressed for eight days, though in England during the summer at the time 

 of the herring fishing too, it cannot be kept in the best meat-safes for more than half that time, 

 though the temperature be lower than here. With salt and other means at hand, I conceive 

 there would be no difficulty in curing fish in an Indian climate in the months of November 

 and December, when the Sulea fishing would be carried on ; nevertheless the subject is one of 

 much interest, and I cannot therefore omit the following remark with which I have been favoured 

 on this head by Mr. C. K. Robison, one of the Magistrates of Calcutta. " It would be a famous 

 thing if these enormous fish (the Sulea) could be cured, as well as their isinglass obtained ; 

 and I cannot help thinking the measure very feasible, if the fishermen at the time of taking them 

 and cutting them up, dipped them first into weak chloride of soda mixed with a small quantity 

 of impure pyroligneous acid. This would not only preserve the fish till the salt acted, but im- 

 prove the flavour." These materials could be manufactured at a very cheap rate on the spot, as well 

 as every thing else that would be requisite. For an account of the Sulea fish, see Journal Asiatic 

 Society Bengal, March 1839, p. 203. Also an article on " some Indian Fishes by Dr. Cantor," Pro- 

 ceedings Royal Asiatic Society, April 1838. 



