a fish rots from the head down
Well, it just ain't true!!
I've been assured by my various biologist friends that
the first thing that starts to disintegrate in a fish is the brain," he says.
Not according to David Groman, a fish pathologist at Atlantic Veterinary
College, which is part of the University of Prince Edward Island, in
Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. Groman may not be the Quincy of fish
( he's not a forensic fish pathologist ), but he does make it his business to
know how and why fish die. Which means that he knows how and why fish
rot.
Groman found time between his fish autopsies to comment on the
rotting-fish metaphor. "I don't know where that proverb comes from," says
Gromon. "But it's a poor metaphor. And, I must say, it's biologically
incorrect. When a fish rots, the organs in the gut go first. If you can't tell
that a fish is rotting by the smell of it, you'll sure know when you cut it
open and everything pours out -- when all the internal tissue loses its
integrity and turns into liquid."
Time for a GUT CHECK! |
