Crabs are cooked in the same establishments, but their nervous systems are so acute, that they dash off their claws in convulsive agony if placed alive in hot water. To prevent this mutilation, which would spoil their sale, they are first killed by the insertion of a needle through the head. The lobster trade is mostly in the hands of one salesman, Mr. Saunders, of Thames Street, who often has upwards of 15,000 consigned to him of a morning, and who causes no less than 15,000_l._ a year to flow into the fishy palms of Norwegians for this single article of commerce. As to the total supply of fish to the London market, we borrow the following estimate from Mr. Mayhew's very clever book on "London Labour and the London Poor." The figures seemed to us at first sight so enormous, that we hesitatingly submitted the table to one of the largest salesmen who assured us that it was no over-statement:-- +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Description of Fish. | No. of Fish.| Weight of Fish.| |----------------------------------------|-------------|----------------| | WET FISH. | | | | | | lbs. | |Salmon and salmon trout (29,000 boxes,} | | | | 14 fish per box) } | 406,000| 3,480,000 | |Live cod (averaging 10 lbs. each) | 400,000| 4,000,000 | |Soles (averaging 1/4 lb. each) | 97,520,000| 26,880,000 | |Whiting (averaging 6 oz. each) | 17,920,000| 6,720,000 | |Haddock (averaging 2 lbs. each) | 2,470,000| 5,040,000 | |Plaice (averaging 1 lb. each) | 33,600,000| 33,600,000 | |Mackerel (averaging 1 lb. each) | 23,520,000| 23,520,000 | |Fresh herrings (250,000 barrels, 700 } | | | | fish per barrel) } | 175,000,000| 42,000,000 | |Ditto in bulk |1,050,000,000| 252,000,000 | |Sprats | | 4,000,000 | |Eels from Holland (principally), }| |{ 1,505,280 | | England, and Ireland (6 fish per lb.)}| 9,797,760 |{ 127,680 | |Flounders (7,200 qrtns., 36 fish per }| | | | qtn.) }| 259,200 | 43,200 | |Dabs (7,500 qrtns., 36 fish per qrtn.) | 270,000 | 48,750 | | | | | | DRY FISH. | | | | | | | |Barrelled cod (15,000 barrels, 40 fish }| | | | per barrel) }| 750,000 | 4,200,000 | |Dried salt cod (5 lbs.