174 



On East Indian Isinglass. 



natives, and is very generally found in the Bazars with the 

 air bladders extracted, having been previously removed by 

 the fishermen, who sell them in a fresh state to the Khojah 

 or B'Mt merchants, who dry them for exportation. The 

 name of this fish, both at Bombay and Scinde, is Gol. We 

 have also been indebted to Dr. Heddle for a specimen 

 of this fish, which we identify as a species of Bola, indicated 

 by Buchanan as a variety of his Bola Chaptis, called Naria 

 in Jessore. It will be recollected, that we identified this 

 same species as the Not-kadon of the Burmese, and one of 

 those recently sent to the Government as yielding Isinglass 

 on the Tenasserim Coast, (Calcutta Journal of Natural His- 

 tory, vol. ii, p. 454,) and now we find it contributing largely 

 to commerce, as well as to the common food of the people 

 of the Malabar Coast. 



Although indicated by the accurate Buchanan, this spe- 

 cies has never been described ; it belongs to the genus Cor- 

 vinus, Cuv. The specimen received from the Tenasserim 

 Coast, as well as that from Bombay, were too large and too 

 much decayed to allow of detailed descriptions being made 

 from them ; nor is the drawing with which we have been 

 favoured by Dr. Heddle, sufficiently characteristic in re- 

 gard to details, otherwise we should be glad to give it 

 publicity. 



It may be sufficient, however, for the present to say, that 

 the species is very closely allied to Corvinus Niger, Cuv. but 

 of monstrous dimensions compared to the European species. 

 From the account given of it in Dr. Heddle's letter under 

 the local name of Gol, as well as from its occurrence on the 

 Tenasserim Coast, as already pointed out, and also in the 

 Gangetic estuaries, this species, together with the Isinglass 

 it affords, ought to be carefully examined and investigated. 



Dr. Heddle in the same letter mentions, that there is still 

 a third species on the Bombay Coast which affords Isinglass, 

 called Kota, of which he has kindly promised to forward a 



