Encyclopaedia Britannica > Volume 7, ETM-GOA

FIS [ 258 ] FIS
only by accident. A few fpecies only fwlm up into
the rivers to depofit their fpawn; but by far the great-
eft number keep in the fea, and would foon expire in
frefh water. There are about 400 fpecies of fifties
(according to Linnaeus) of which we know fomething:
but the unknown ones are fuppofed to be many more;
and as they are thought to lie in great depths of the
fea remote from land, it is probable that many fpecies
will remain for ever unknown.
For the fubdivifions, characters, and natural hiftory
of this clafs of animals, fee the articles Ichthyology
and Zoology.
Blowing of Fish, is a praftice fimilar to that of
blowing flelh, poultry, and pigs, and adopted for the
fame deceitful purpofes. The method of blowing fifh,
efpecially cod and whitings, is by placing the end of a
quill or tobacco-pipe at the vent, and pricking a hole
with a pin under the fin which is next the gill; there¬
by making the fifti appear to the eye large and full,
which when dreffed will be flabby, and little elfe than
Ikin and bones. But this impofition may be difcover-
ed by placing the-finger and thumb on each fide of the
vent, and fqueezing it hard ; the wind may be percei¬
ved to go out, the fkin will fall in, and the fifti appear
lank, and of little value.
Breeding of Fishes may be turned to great advan¬
tage ; for, befides furnifhing the table, obliging one’s
friends, and raifing money, the land will be thereby
greatly improved, fo as to yield more this way than by
any other employment whatever. See Fish-Fond, in¬
fra ; and Breeding of Fijh.
Cajlralion of Fish, is a method firft praCtifed by Mr
Tull, in order to prevent the exceffive increafe of fifti in
fome of his ponds, where the numbers did not permit
any of them to grow to an advantageous ftze. But he
afterwards found, that the caftrated fifti grew much
larger than their ufual fize, were more fat, and always
in feafon. This operation may be performed both on
male and female fifti; and the moft eligible time for it
is when the ovaries of the female have their ova in
them, and when the veffels of the male, analogous to
thefe, have their feminal matter in them; becaufe, at
this time, thefe veffels are more eafily diftinguiftied
from the ureters, which convey the urine from the kid¬
neys into the bladder, and are fituated near the feminal
veffels on each fide of the fpine ; which, without fiifli-
cient attention, may be miftaken for the ovaries, efpe¬
cially when thefe laft are empty. The time leaft pro¬
per for this operation, is juft after they have fpawned,
becaufe the fifti are then too weak and languid to bear,
with fuccefs, fo fevere an operation; however, with
fkill and care, it may be performed almoft at any time.
When a fifli is to be caftrated, it muft be held in a wet
cloth, with its belly upwards; then with a lliarp pen¬
knife, having its point bent backwards, the operator
cuts through the integuments of the rim of the belly,
taking care not to wound any of the inteftines. As
foon as a fmall aperture is made, he carefully inferts a
hooked pen-knife, and with this dilates the aperture
from between the two fore-fins almoft to the anus. He
then, with two fmall blunt filver-hooks, five or fix
inches long, and of this form F, by the help of an af-
fiftant, holds open the belly of the fifti; and, with a
fpoon or fpatula, removes carefully the inteftines from
4
one fide. When thefe are removed, you fee-the ure- FHh.
ter, a fmall veffel, nearly in the direction of the fpine, —-y—J
and alfothe ovary, a larger veffel, lying before it, near¬
er the integuments of the belly. This laft vefftl is ta¬
ken up with a hook of the fame kind with thofe before
mentioned, and, after detaching it from the fide far
enough for the purpofe, divided tranfverfely with a pair
of ftiarp fciffars, care being taken that the inteftines
are not wounded or injured. After one of the ovaries
has been divided, the operator proceeds to divide the
other in the fame manner ; and then the divided inte¬
guments of the belly are fewed with filk, the ftitches
being inferted at a fmall diftance from one another.
Mr Tull obferves farther, that the fpawning time is
very various; that trouts are full about Chriftmas;
perch in February ; pikes in March, and carp and
tench in May ; and that allowance muft be made for
climate and fituation, with regard to the fpawning of
fifti. When the filh are caftrated, they are put into
the water where they are intended to continue ; and
they take their chance in common with other fifti, as
though they were not caftrated. With tolerable care,
few die of the operation. Phil Pranf. vol, xlviii.
Fart 2. art. 106.
Although we could not properly avoid inferting the
above detail, it is prefumed that few will be pleafed
with the invention. The operation is peculiarly cruel,
and the purpofe of it only a deteftable piece of Apician
refinement.
Feeding of Fishes. When they are fed in large
pools or ponds, either malt boiled, or fefli grains, is
the be ft food; thus carps may be raifed and fed like
capons, and tenches will feed as well. The care of
feeding them is beft committed to a gardener or the
butler, who ftiould be always at hand. When fed in
a ftew, any fort of grain boiled, efpecially peas, and
malt coarfely ground, are proper food; alfo the grains
after brewing, while frefh and fweet; but one buftiel
of malt not brewed, will go as far as two of grains.
Stealing of Fish, by perfons armed and difguifed/ is
felony without benefit of clergy by 9 Geo. I. cap. 22.
See Black aQ. And by 5 Geo. III. cap. 14. the pe¬
nalty of tranfportation for feven years is infli&ed om
perfons ftealing or taking fifti in any wrater, within a
park, paddock, orchard, or yard ; and on the receivers,
aiders, and abettors ; and a forfeiture of five pounds
to the owner of the fifhery is made payable by perfons
taking or deftroying (or attempting fo to do) any fiftv
in any river or other water within any inclofed ground,
being private property.
Preferring of Fish for Calinets. Linnaeus’s Am^Acaik
thod is, to expoie them to the air; and when they ac- totn,
quire fuch a degree of putrefaction that the fkin lofes
its cohefion to the body of the fifh, it may be Aid off
almoft like a glove: the two fides of this fkin may
then be dried upon paper like a plant, or one of the
fides may be filled with plafter of Paris to give the fub-
jeft a-due plumpnefs.
A fifh may be prepared, after it has.acquired this
degree of putrefaction, by making a longitudinal inci-
fion on the belly, and carefully diffefting the flefhy
part from the fkin, which are but flightly attached to
it in confequence of the putrefcency. The fkin is therii
to be filled with cottou and the antifeptic powder
as-