West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1885-06-05
FISH AS FOOD.
A Valuable and Cheap Article OF Nutrl-
mont.

nent.
The many species that men consume
giving them great variety of flavor
and many degrees of nourishment. In
some parts of the earth fish form the
chief sustenance Of the people. In the
frigid zone, fish are dried, ground to
powder, and converted into substitute
for bread. Even putr.d fish forms the
ordinary food of whole tribes of men.
From the earliest period of mankind,
fish has been their common nourish-
ment
The flesh of fish is less nutritious than
meat, and differs in the amount of
plastic and fatty matter they contain.
But generally we may say that they
contain seventy-fvc per cent of water,
fifteen per cent of heterogeneous
materials. The white fish, however,
contains only three per cent of fat and
eighteen of plastic matter. Some are
not easily digested in the human
stomach. Others dissolve readily, and
enter and mingle easily in the circula.
ton of the blood IL may be well for
the mother to know that some fish arc
poisonous at certain seasons of the wear,
t'Ai'A hhNANl viz III ttGldln klnU3
OF food, especially in hot and unhealthy
climates. They should not forget that
various articles of ordinary diet vary i'm
their influence upon the health and
comfort of different children. Some
can not safely eat veal, or mutton. milk
nor strawberries. Shell fish (as lobster)
may induce cholera; in Others a special
form of nettle rash may appear; and in
still others, nervous maladies NAV
seemingly be caused by eating certain
kinds OF fish. Such cases are very rare.
and have been ascribed TO the food on
which some fishes live, and to the
idiosyncrasy of persons so affected.
If fish do not yield as much nourish-
ment as meat still those who live
chiefly on this diet usually maintain a
healthy state of body, and discharge well
the usual duties of active life. Fish
eating children ultimately make healthy
and active men and women
We may find it convenient to form
two grades of fishes, namely, those that
have white flesh and those that have
red. The former have a looser texture
than the latter, and so are more easily
digested. Among the white-heshed fish
are the perch, paddock, sole, cod, etc.
Their bodies usually contain but o
small amount of fat. such as usually
accumulates in the Goldfish and its rela-
tives, whose livers are ordinarily dis
tended with oil. White-colored fish on
an average, contain nearly eighteen per
cent. of plastic matter, seVenty-ci0ht
per cent. of water and four per cent, or
less, of fat
The red-heshed fishes, as the mack
crel herring, eels, salmon, etc. are
distinguished by having fat mingled
with the flesh, especially i'm the part be-
low the belly SO the members OF this
second class are richer, more nutritious.
but less easy of d.ge ition The salmon,
that prince of fishes. approaches meat
III color, and yields more nourishment
than any other member OF the finnv
tribe. The fat is mingled with the
tibcrs of the muscles, and also exists in
layers directly beneath the skin. In
most fishes, the fat abounds in the belly
part more than i'm the back, so that the
former are not so suitable for children
and weak stomachs.
The red heshed fishes are more M
tritious, but harder of digestion than
the lean and white-meated ones This
latter class, cooked without much fat.
are easily digested and assimilated in
the weakest stomach and are particu-
larry suitable rs good for children.
The flavor of fish depends in part
! upon the species TO which they belong.
and partly upon the food they eat and
the place in which they live. Those
that live in deep or quickly moving
waters with gravelly bottoms are
sweeter and more delicate than those
that spend their days in shallow. slowly
moving waters ON muddy bottoms The
latter are not only less nutritious but
! tougher. harder TO digest and have an
earthly flavor. We ought to repeat that
I the fatty class Of fishes require more
I digestive force than the lean, and so
are not proper for young children. But
they may he made more digestiblc by
adding 10 them when cooking a little
vinegar All fish should bc behcadcd
aud cleaned rs soon as Caught H.
AiIcH, jV Western Rur0L