1384
ELEMENTS OF MATERIA MEDICA.
Division II. Vertebrata.—Vertebrae Ani-' iAlS '
f the b rai1 ’
Animals furnished with a skull and vertebral column for the protection 01and spinal marrow;
Class 8. Pisces.—Fishes.
a
Vertebrated Animals with cold red blood, respiring by gills or branchiae, anin the water by the aid of Jins. ^
No article of the Materia Medica contained in the British Pk an ^j 0 rpceias is derived from this class of animals. But it would be ull P a £ 0 &able to omit all notice of Isinglass, and the Oil of the Liver of ‘
Fish. The important uses of the first substance are well kii°"’ I *^ te rsthe extraordinary efficacy in various diseases, assigned by som eto the last-mentioned substance, demands a short notice here. ^ ^
(I.) ACIPENSER, Linn. The Sturgeons . — The term Acipenser ismodern naturalists to designate a particular genus of cartilaginous fishes an gul*J’called Sturgeons , and which are thus characterized:—“Body elongated an 0 jute”;defended by indurated plates and spines, arranged in longitudinal rows; sno . tee\conical; mouth placed on the under surface of the head, tubular, and J 3 rau“
(Yarrell, Hist, of Brit. Fishes, ii. 360). The species are badly determine • g{ (lie(Med. Zool. ii. 1 & 349) has described and figured eight. Acipenser Stn .’ gcc>
Common Sturgeon, >»sionally caught M frotl _A Th« spec#*
(lA*
Fig.251.
Thames. The spe
which Isinglass(Ich>-i
from i x etjs a Jish, 3«“ *She; Colla Piscium) lS ^
cured, are the follow in ^’fK1. A. Huso,
■W
Beluga or Biel u S a -'^- ti tri
tary streams. Its roe (ovary) is esteemed as caviare. Its swimming o'*properly prepared, yields leaf isinglass of three qualities, fine firsts,firsts, an
2. A. Guldenstadtii. Brandt and Ratzeburg . The Ossetr or Osseter^ fro&.the Caspian and Black Seas and their tributary rivers. Caviare is preP ar .
roe (ovary.) From its swimming bladder are obtained both staple and le a JThe varieties of the staple are, the Patriarch Astrachan, and Astrachan fi rs _ ’ Jt"and thirds. The leaf varieties are firsts, seconds, and thirds (T. W. C. M a j
d. Pharm. Zool. S. 76. 1838). . Se* s Lt
3. A. Ruthenus, Linn. The Sterlet . —Inhabits the Black and Caspia JO"
their tributary rivers; and the Arctic Ocean . Its roe yields caviare. Be J j
( first and second) isinglass are obtained from the swimming bladder. . geaSi "
4. A. Stellatus, Pallas. The Sewruga .—Inhabits the Caspian and Bla ^
their tributary rivers. Yields caviare and leaf isinglass. in co0> pr i #
The Sturgeons are not the only fishes which yield the substance knownas Isinglass. In New York it is obtained from the Labrus Squeteagueot 1 ^(LitNew England ribbon isinglass is procured from the intestines of the Meor Common Cod ( Journ. of the Philadelphia College, vols. iii. and vi.) j 1 ' n tb eis obtained from some large fish (Silurus ?) In Iceland it is obtained -„y
(Morrhua vulgaris ) and the Ling ( Lota Molva). or
The organ from which isinglass is usually procured is the air-bog, ^. 0 vini'^sbladder, sometimes termed the sound. It is a membranous sac filled w' 1 * 1 , ^jddlcfrom 69 to 87 per cent, of oxygen), and placed under the spine, in theback, and above the centre of gravity. In most fish it communicates wit ^gus, or stomach, by the ductus pneumaticus. In others it is an imperfora ea cb 0sionally there are two sacs, one anterior to the other, and communicating "by a short tube. g or, * n
The air-bag consists of an external or peritoneal coat, a middle, tendiu" . ofFptcases, a muscular coat, and an internal highly vascular membrane. In r a pwlkinds of isinglass the sac is dried unopened. The fishermen of the casp