Production of Isinglass on the Coasts of India. 91 



Polynemus Emoi and P. plebeius, supposed by Buchanan to corres- 

 pond with his Sele, contain the same valuable substance ? and do 

 either of Russell's species, the above named maga-booshee and maga- 

 jellee (Indian Fishes, 183-184) yield it ? These questions are very 

 interesting, in connection with the information which will be after- 

 wards given, respecting the extent of the fishery along the coasts of 

 India, and of the export to China of large quantities of a substance 

 which is no doubt one form of Isinglass. 



Dr. Cantor, in a paper read before the Royal Asiatic Society, 

 on some Indian fishes found in the Bay of Bengal, says, " To the 

 genus Polynemus, I shall add a species called by the natives salliah 

 or saccolih. It enters the mouths of the Ganges in shoals, and is 

 equally sought by Europeans and natives for its excellent flavour, 

 which much approaches that of salmon. I have seen it from three 

 to four feet in length and eight to ten inches in depth. It ap- 

 pears equally plentiful all the year round, which is also the case with 

 a nearly allied species, the Polynemus quadrifilis of Cuvier." In re- 

 ference to this passage, Mr. M. says, " I am not sure that the species 

 of Polynemus, Dr. Cantor particularly refers to in his paper as 

 salliah or saccolih, is not the very fish that affords Isinglass ; 

 if so, it appears to be considered by Dr. Cantor as a new 

 species."* 



In his letter, dated 17th February, 1841, Mr. McClelland says, 

 " that besides the Polynemus Sele, the fishes described by Dr. 

 Buchanan, under the name of Bola, all afford a considerable quanti- 

 ty of Isinglass. f Some of the specimens sent are from a species of 

 this genus. Several of the Siluridae also afford it in large quantities, 

 especially the species marked Silurus raita by Dr. Buchanan." This 



* We have now reason to think the species in question is the Suleah to which 

 so many names have already been applied by different authors. — Ed. 



f The Bola? of Buchanan are the Scienoides of Cuvier, one of which inhabiting 

 the coasts of North America, is said to afford Isinglass. Another which we have 

 recently received from Dr. Heddle of Bombay, where it is called Gol, and with 

 Polynemus sele contributes to the supply of fish-maws exported from that coast ; 

 we are not yet sure of the species, but we think it has been indicated by 

 Buchanan as a variety of his Bola chaptis, called Nuria in Jessore. The 

 same species also exists on the Tenasserim coast, from whence we received a 



