Notwithstanding most magistrates issue proclamations from time to time cautioning people against the use of porpoise flesh, scarcely a spring passes without fatal cases of poisoning from that cause. The Shênpao lately reported eleven deaths that occurred at Yangchow from eating portions of that fish. Again, five persons died at Anch'ing in April last from eating porpoise. In one family a father and son were the victims; in the one vomiting was induced, in the other emetics failed to act; both died. In another family a father, mother and daughter died from the same cause. They suffered much pain, with swelling of the abdomen, skin purple and benumbed, with greenish saliva from the mouth. Another case is worth giving, because of the symptoms, from a work published in the last century. "A Shanghai graduate when on the eve of departing for the Peking examination, entertained his friends at a banquet; being hungry, just before the guests' arrival he partook of some porpoise; when his friends arrived he found himself unable to make the usual salutation with his hands, they were paralyzed; soon his whole body became numb, and then his abdomen distended greatly, and he died quickly.'

It would seem that porpoise poisoning is commoner on the Yangtsze than on the coast, as if the ascent of the great river renders it less fit for food as a like toilsome journey does the shad. It is well known that sailors eat porpoise caught at sea with impunity, and islanders, as the Japanese, rarely suffer from porpoise eating.

Poisonous Fish.-The Ningpo Gazetteer describes a fish, popularly called "tiger fish," which by its needle-like tail inflicts poisonous wounds on men and kills fish; men thus wounded suffer excruciating and protracted pain, say the people, who also declare that the spinous tail, if driven into a tree, will kill it; however I have not found it hurtful in that manner. Somewhat similar is the "tiger fish," with hedgehog-like spines, which, piercing men, occasion pain; its bite is poisonous, and so is its flesh. the coast of Chêkiang and Fuhkien the "swallow-red fish" is found, which resembles the "ox-tailed fish." It darts with extreme velocity, inflicting painful wounds on mussel divers. Yet worse is the poisonous wound inflicted by a species of ray which has three spines in its tail; the pain is such as to keep the sufferer groaning for successive days and nights.

On

"A sort of sturgeon is found at Loyang which resembles a pig: its colour is yellow. Its stench forbids near approach, and it is very poisonous; notwithstanding, when properly prepared, it is considered fit food for the Emperor, for it constitutes an article of tribute." 三岡譞略 河豚毒

The tetradon, or globe-fish, is rejected by costal fishermen, because it is poisonous, but those globe-fish that ascend the river are sought for, and when evicerated, and dried, are edible.

A silure, or mud-fish, is hurtful, particularly the kind with reddish eyes and no gills. No kind is to be eaten with ox liver, or with wild boar or venison. A small species of shark called "whiteshark," having a rough skin and hard flesh, is slightly poisonous. Several kinds of eels are represented as hurtful. Some Ningpo people will not eat eels without first testing them. They are placed in a deep water jar, and if on the approach of a strong light they spring up, they are thrown away as not fit for food. There is a kind of eel that has its head turned upward that is not to be eaten. Eels that have perpendicular caudal fins are to be discarded; also those with white spotted backs, those without gills, the "four-eyed" kind, the kind with black striped bellies, and the kind that weigh four or five catties. The Pèn-ts ao shows the fallacy of the popular belief that eels spring from dead men's hair, by stating that they have eggs.

The "stone-striped fish" is described as causing vomiting. "It resembles the roach[?], and is a foot long with tiger-like markings. There are no males among these fish. According to native report, the females copulate with snakes, and have poisonous roes. In the south these fish are hung on trees where wasps' nests are found, by which means birds are attracted that devour the wasps. They swim on the surface of the water, but on the approach of men, dive down." A curious account is given of a poisonous lacertian. "It is amphibious, living in mountain creeks. Its fore-feet are like those of a monkey, its hinder resemble those of a dog; it has a long tail, is seven or eight feet long, and has the cry of a child, which is indicated by the mode of writing one of its names. It climbs trees, and in times of drought, fills its mouth with water, and, concealing itself in jungle, covering its body with leaves and grass, expands its jaws ; birds, seeing the water therein contained, attempt to slake their thirst in the trap, when they are soon gulped down. The poison that it contains is removed by suspending it from a tree, and beating it until all flows out in the form of a white fluid."

To carry this digression a step farther:-The reader should bear in mind that Chinese Natural History consists largely of imperfectly observed facts, blended with superstition and folk-lore. The Chelona furnish according to Chinese writers anomalous poisonous tortoises. Some facts in Natural History are often wound up with folk-lore like the following, which may be worth recording here. Tortoises that are three-footed, red-footed, single-eyed, nonretractable head and foot, sunken-eyed, abdominal-marked,

abdominal-marked E, snaked-framed, and drought or mountain species are poisonous; edible kinds are not to be eaten with spinach, nor hens' or ducks' eggs, nor rabbits; pregnant women eating them will bring forth short-necked children; consumptive persons troubled with abdominal swellings should not use them for food. The kind that does not retract the head and feet, and is destitute of the leathery border or carapace, causes impeded respiration. A jingling proverb says, three and four-toed may be eaten, while the five-toed, which are simply snakes transformed, and the six-toed, transformed scorpions, are virulently poisonous. A tortoise is reported to exist in pools on Chünshan in Yangchau (Kiangsu) which a myth represents as a metamorphosis of the father of Yu the Great; it is very cold in its nature and poisonous. A man of Taitsang ordered his wife to cook a three-legged tortoise which he ate and then went to bed; soon after, he was changed to blood and water, his hair being all that was left of the miserable husband. Neighbors suspecting foul play, informed the magistrate, Huang Tingshén, who could make nothing of the case, but there being a prisoner under sentence of death, the culprit was ordered to eat one of these tripedal Chelonians; the consequence was, his dissolution into bloody water, his hair only being found intact; whereon the widow was acquitted. The learned author of the Materia Medica Sinensis, less credulous than the men of his period, says it is not reasonable to suppose that this poison should dissolve a man in that fashion, and cites another authority to show that a three-legged tortoise is innocuous; adding the names of certain maladies for which that anomalous animal is prescribed (it does not seem to have occurred to the author in reviewing that medico-legal case that, the accused widow found in the magistrate no unfriendly judge.) The subject is mainly of teratological interest showing Chinese belief in the existence of three-legged Chelonian: based it may be on maimed animals.

Many Crustaceans are poisonous,-fifteen kinds are enumerated,-several of them monstrosities. Antidotes for crab-poisoning, are sweet basil, or thyme, the juice of squash or of garlic, &c. Crabs eaten in pregnancy cause cross presentation. Crabs are not to be eaten with persimmons. The flesh of the king crab (Simulus longispina) is sometimes poisonous, and is employed as an anthelmintic. Field and ditch prawns are included in the list of poisonous Crustaceans. Oysters are hurtful betimes in China as elsewhere.

POISONING FISH.

Allied to the subject of poisonous fishes is that of fish-poisoning. At an early stage of their history, anterior perhaps to the legendary period when it is said the Chinese made the discovery of

fire, and ere they had acquired the art of fishing, they probably found dead fishes floating on the surface of streams, and in the course of time observed that the fall of certain seeds into the water was followed by the rise of fish to the surface:-then commenced the practice which has continued to the present day, of catching fish by poisoning them. Another writer referring to western China says;— "The waters are perfectly clear, and the people do not use nets in fishing, but in the winter season construct rafts, and from these throw on the water, a mixture of wheat and the seed of a species of polygonum pounded together; which, being eaten by the fish, they are killed and rise to the surface, but in a short time they come to life again. This they call making the fish drunk."

In eastern Turkistan fish are obtained in a similar manner. "In the spring when the melted snow has swollen the rivers, the fish are seen swimming about in all quarters, the fishermen immediately take a solution of herbs, and sprinkle it on the water, by which the fish become perfectly stupefied and are easily caught. Mahomedans do not eat them to any great extent, except when mulberries are ripe which are eaten always with them."*

In this part of China seeds of the Croton tiglium are employed very extensively for the same purpose. They are powdered and cast into the water, and being, like the polygonum, extremely acrid, speedily kill the fish and Crustaceans that partake of them; these seeds render them colourless and flavourless, but not hurtful. Purchasers are never deceived, as their appearance discloses their mode of death; they are bought by the poor because of their cheapness. Similar modes of poisoning fish prevail also on portions of the Grand Canal adjacent to the Yangtsze, which sometimes call forth magisterial interdicts, because damaging to public health. One of the district magistrates of Suchow lately issued a proclamation forbidding the sale of the "thunder-duke-creeper, which miscreants employ for catching fish, terrapins, prawns, crabs and the like, killing them, and injuring men."

Many centuries before our era according to the Chou Polity, game laws existed, which interdicted the use of poison in the capture of fish (and of other animals as well) in the spring months: poisoning or capturing them in any way being restricted to autumn and winter, or when the animals attained maturity.†

*Notes on Mahomedan Tartary; a translation from a Report in manuscript prepared by a Commission of Manchu officers for the emperor Chienling. Shanghai Almanac 1883.

† 周官秋禮

WÊNCHOW, January, 1886.

I

THE EASY WEN LI NEW TESTAMENT.

REV. C. W. MATEER D.D.

HAVE been greatly interested in the discussion relating to an Easy Wen Li version of the New Testament, and at the same time not a little grieved to see the position in which the work seems to be. After consultation with some of my brethren in Shantung, I wish to make, through the Recorder, the following points and suggestions.

The great desirability of such a version of the New Testament, and indeed of the whole Bible, seems to be conceded. If such a version is made by competent and representative men, it will displace both existing Wen Li versions, and to some extent the Mandarin. In my humble opinion this is the version that should have been made in the first place. Its importance demands that the work be carefully done, and under such auspices as will secure its general acceptance.

A work of this kind done by one man will not I presume be generally accepted. His individuality is certain to color his work. There is no man but has peculiar views of the meaning of certain texts. Criticisms from others are of no significance, while the one man holds the authority of adoption or rejection. No one man is likely to strike the golden mean between the broad and narrow gauges of paraphrase and literality; and even if he did, the public would still need the testimony of a number of representative and competent associates to the fact. A version is wanted which will carry with it a fair guarantee of faithfulness, and of freedom from one-sidedness in every respect. The same objections will apply, though to a less extent, to a version by two translators.

It is a misfortune that there is amongst the missionaries in China any rivalry or jealousy, as between Englishmen and Americans. Such nevertheless is the fact, and it is one of the factors that must be taken into the account in plans for preparation of a union version, or it will be a failure. The number of English and American Missionaries in China is approximately equal, and competent translators are not wanting on either part. It seems evident therefore that any company of translators who may take this work in hand, should be composed of an equal number of each nationality, with say one German as umpire.

The Mandarin version has been several times spoken of as a basis, and in this there seems to be a high degree of propriety, for various reasons.