The number and validity of recorded cases establish the fact, beyond
dispute, that certain fish, especially the muscle, (_Mytilus Edulis_)
and others of the shell tribe, have occasionally proved fatal to those
who have eaten them; but it has been doubted whether such effects have
arisen from a specific poison, or from the peculiar state of the
stomach,[485] or idiosyncrasy of constitution, in the persons affected.
In other words, ought we to consider the fish, so circumstanced, as an
_absolute_ or _relative_ poison? Each of these theories has met with its
advocates, and many striking facts and illustrations have been adduced
in their support. The weight of authority, however, as well as of
argument, strongly inclines in favour of the existence of a specific
virus, generated under circumstances which we are at present unable to
appreciate. At the same time, it would be vain to deny, that certain
fishes are more obnoxious to the stomach of one individual than to that
of another; there are, for instance, those persons who are disordered
whenever they eat a muscle; others who are incapable of taking an oyster
without considerable disturbance of the digestive functions. This is
obviously _Idiosyncrasy_, and must not be confounded with those cases
where a number of persons have been simultaneously affected from a
particular food, which, on all former occasions, had been eaten by the
same individuals with perfect security. We must, therefore, at the very
outset of our inquiry, admit the occasional action of these articles of
diet as _relative_ poisons; although it is evident to demonstration,
that an _absolute_ virus is generated in particular fishes, by the
operation of causes hitherto unknown.
As a subject, highly important in its relations to maritime œconomy, the
history of fish-poison constitutes an interesting branch of naval
hygiene; instructions, therefore, for its investigation, ought always to
be given to the naturalists and chemists who may be appointed to attend
voyages of discovery. The notice of the scientific men who accompanied
_Peyrouse_ was officially directed to this important object; but the
unhappy fate of that celebrated adventurer rendered the commission
fruitless. The obscurity which attends this branch of toxicology has in
many cases occasioned a corresponding degree of credulity; and sailors,
as well as others, entertain an unfounded prejudice against various
fish, that are not only innocuous, but even useful as articles of food.
It would, however, appear that those which are harmless in one latitude
may prove poisonous in another; it may be stated generally, that fish
are more deleterious within the tropics, than in other seas. In torrid
regions the softest kinds are the most susceptible of that change which
renders them poisonous, and hence the policy of the Hebrew legislator
becomes apparent; “_whatsoever has no fins nor scales in the waters,
that shall be an abomination unto you._” Levit. c. xi, v. 12, and Deut.
cxiv, v. 9, 10.
The most complete history of this intricate subject, and of the
dissertations to which it has given rise, is to be found in the
_Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal_,[486] by _Dr. Chisholm_, who
has brought together, and cited a great number of authorities, biblical
and classical, foreign and domestic, for its illustration. An
interesting paper is also published on the same subject in the _Medical
Repository_,[487] by _Dr. Burrows_. To the above sources we must beg to
refer the reader who is desirous of farther information than can be
afforded him by the present work.
_Symptoms of Fish-poisoning._
Nausea; thirst; tormina of the bowels; vomiting; an eruption on the
skin, resembling the nettle-rash; tumefaction of the face; head-ache;
difficult respiration; distention of the abdomen; sometimes _cholera
morbus_; vertigo; delirium; cold sweats; convulsions; death. Such is the
train of symptoms, liable of course, to variation in the order of
succession, which are produced by the ingestion of fish-poison, as
occasionally existing in salmon, herrings, eels, mackarel, many of the
testaceous and most of the crustaceous fish of this country; and in a
great number of fish[488] inhabiting the tropical seas.
The species of fish, from which deleterious effects have more commonly
arisen in this country, are the _Mytilus Edulis_, or muscle. _Dr.
Burrows_ has given us an account of two cases of death from eating these
fish, which occurred at Gravesend, under the care of _Mr. Rogers_,
surgeon of that place, upon whose authority the statement is drawn
up.[489] The subjects of the history were two youths of the ages of nine
and fourteen, who had each eaten about a dozen of small muscles, which
they had picked from the side of a fishing smack, in a dead and tainted
state. In the _Gazette de Santé_,[490] and in the works of
_Fodéré_,[491] and _Behren_,[492] similar cases are recorded.
_Vancouver_,[493] in his voyage to the coast of America, relates that
several of his men were ill from eating some muscles which they had
collected and roasted for breakfast; in an hour after which they
complained of numbness of the face and extremities, sickness, and
giddiness. Three were more affected than the others, and one of them
died.
_Origin of Fish-poison._
If we admit that the symptoms which are occasionally produced by the
ingestion of certain fish, depend upon the presence of poison, we have
next to inquire into its nature and origin. _Dr. Burrows_ considers that
all the opinions which have been advanced upon this subject may, for the
greater perspicuity and facility of discussion, be arranged under seven
heads, viz. does the poison exist—1. _In the skin?_—2. _In the stomach
and intestinal canal?_—3. _In the liver or gall bladder?_—4. _In the
entire substance of the fish?_—5. _In the food of fishes?_—6. _Is it a
morbid change in the system of the fish?_—7. _Is it a poison, sui
generis?_
Upon these several questions _Dr. Burrows_ has offered some
observations. There do not appear to be any facts which can induce us to
consider that the poison resides only in the skin.
Experience has shewn that the _virus_ is particularly energetic in the
viscera, commonly called the _offals_; and yet there are no grounds for
concluding that it exclusively belongs to these parts. _Captain Cook_,
and _Messrs. Forster_ were poisoned by eating a piece of the liver only
of a species of _tetrodon_; yet they who ate of its substance were also
poisoned.
An opinion has long prevailed that the poisonous principle is derived
from the substances upon which the fish feeds; and that of muscles, in
particular, from copper; this latter hypothesis has received the
sanction of _Dr. Chisholm_. We however agree with _Dr. Burrows_ in
considering that it has neither the support of observation or analogy.
_Dr. Beune_ has supposed that the acrid principle is no other than the
spawn of the _stella marina_, an insect which very commonly lodges in
the muscle. It seems, however, more probable that it is a product of
decomposition, but which requires the concurrence of certain
circumstances for its developement.
Before we conclude the history of septic poisons, there appears to be a
species of death, particularly noticed by _Dr. Gordon Smith_,[494] which
merits our attention, as having some relation to this class of
agents—the fact of persons having been “_eaten to death by maggots_!”
Such a death has been assigned to _Sylla_, by _Plutarch_; and to
_Antiochus Epiphanes_, by _Josephus_, and the writer of the book of
Maccabees. The fate of _Herod_ is ascertained by Scripture. In modern
history we have similar instances in _Charles_ IX of France, and
_Philip_ II of Spain.
Numerous cases are recorded, in different medical works,[495] of the
generation of maggots, _i. e._ the _larvæ_ of different species of fly,
not only in external sores and excoriations, but in the internal
cavities of the human body. _Dr. Lempriere_[496] has related the case of
an officer’s lady, who had gone through an acute fever, but in whom
these maggots were produced, which burrowed, and found their way by the
nose through the _os cribriforme_, into the cavity of the cranium, and
afterwards into the brain itself, to which she owed her death. But of
all the cases of this kind, that related by _Dr. Gordon Smith_ is of the
most revolting kind. “In the month of July 1809, a man was found near
Finglas, in Ireland, lying under the wall of a lime-kiln, at an early
hour in the evening, with his face on the ground, apparently dead. On
turning him on his back to ascertain the real state of the case, it was
discovered that he was yet alive, but under the most appalling
circumstances. On removing his coat, the whole surface of his body
appeared to be a moving mass of worms. His face was considerably injured
as if from a fall, or bruises; his eyes were dissolved, and their
cavities, as well as those of the ears, nose, and mouth, were filled
with a white living mass, from which such innumerable quantities of
maggots were continually pouring out, that the skull seemed to be filled
with nothing else. After some time he recovered strength enough to walk,
and regained recollection and voice sufficient to tell who he was, where
he lived, and how he had been brought into that situation. It appeared
that he was returning home upon a car the evening before; having drank
to excess, he fell off, and remained in a state of insensibility until
he was discovered. He could neither account for the wounds in his head,
nor for his being so far from the road; but it appeared probable that he
had received the contusion from the fall, and had insensibly crawled to
the place where he lay. It was conjectured that the state of the
atmosphere, as to humidity and temperature, had brought on a solution of
the solids in the bruised parts, already disposed to putrescency, and
now in close contact with the moist earth. In these, the eggs of
innumerable insects being deposited, their generation proceeded with
rapidity under circumstances so favourable. Every attention was paid to
the unfortunate individual; he was removed to shelter, the parts were
washed with spirits and vinegar, and the loathsome objects removed, as
far as was possible. Cordials were poured down his throat, but he
swallowed with difficulty; and in a very short time spasms took place
which prevented him from swallowing altogether. The putrescence
advanced; in a short time he became insensible; and about noon the
following day he died, in a state of total _putrisolution_.”