" Some persons,' said he, `fear to eat this fish, because it has been frequently proved that it is the cause of illness and sometimes of death. This poisonous property of the becune is present very certainly in a particular state of the individual fish, which appears to show itself at different seasons of the year.
" I have consulted several persons with regard to the poison of the becune and all have assured me that there is an infallible means of satisfying one's self when one comes from fishing for it whether or not it is poisonous. He has only to note in cutting it whether or not there runs away a kind of whitish water, or rather a kind of sane [i. e., serum or exudation], which in all cases is a sure sign that the becune is in the diseased condition of which I have spoken above. D. Arthur O'Neill, Marquis del Norte, has told me that he has often made experiments on dogs and that all these have confirmed the sureness of this means of safety.
"` The signs of poisoning by the becune are a general trembling, nausea, vomiting, sharp pains, particularly in the joints of the arms and hands. Sometimes these symptoms follow each other so rapidly that it becomes extremely difficult to determine in a precise fashion the different stages of this deadly affection.
" 'If death does not put an end to this malady, as happily is most ordinarily the case. one may sometimes see how the virus always causes certain singular pathological phenomena. The nails of the hands and feet gradually die and drop off; the hairs, which, as is well known, are of the same nature as the nails, finally drop out also. These phenomena have been noted in several individ uals to have continued for a considerable number of years. One case may be cited in which this experience persisted for more than twenty-five years.
'One remarkable fact is that when the becune has been salted it never causes any trouble. At St. Croix for instance, it is the custom not to eat it until the day following the one on which it was salted. May it not be that the salt is an antidote for the poison of the becune?'" However, M. Flee adds in honesty that which spoils an apparently straightforward piece of testimony by saying that he has never seen a case of barracuda poisoning, but has had his information from per sons "well instructed and worthy of confidence."
Widespread is the belief that this reported poisonous affection of the flesh is due to the fish's feeding on substances containing copper, as referred to in Chisholm's account. Gosse (1851) refers to the same thing when he says that "the colonists believe [that it] is owing to its feeding on submerged copper-banks.' " Poey (1856-58) writes that its flesh is excellent, but is forbidden to be sold in the markets because it is sometimes dangerous, and gravely affects the health of those who eat it at such times. The poisoning caused by fish is called Ciguatera and the best antidote for it is the juice of the citron. He then adds that such poisonings are rare but serious when they do happen, especially when caused by eating the picuda. Last of all he naively concludes that "One may eat it with full security if one will in advance try it on a cat." He adds that it is the belief of the fishermen that the fish is unsuitable for food if the roots of its teeth are blackish, but that he has no first-hand knowledge of the matter.
Dumeril (1867) has gone very thoroughly into the matter of poison ing from eating fishes. He quotes a Dr. Court, a practitioner on the island of Trinidad, that the smaller barracuda species is harmless, as are small individuals of any fish held to be poisonous. The great sphyriena is often very poisonous. In addition to the teeth-liver tests, a new one is here given: "When a silver spoon or coin, placed in the vessel in which the fish is being cooked, does not become blackened, the flesh may be eaten without fear." Duraril takes no stock in the copper-bed theory, but does suggest another cause for the poisoning. A Dr. Guyon, "sanitary inspector of troops at Martinique," communicated to Dumeril some considerable data and: "According to him the real cause is a commencement of decay in the flesh of the fish" [accompanied by a giving off of as shown by the silver coin test of the preceding paragraph]; and Dumeril adds: "This opinion I also share." Here we have the first definite statement for our fish of what later has come to be known as the pto maine theory of fish poisoning.