Eaten Alive

The most dainty dish to the Japanese epicure is none other than a living fish, says the Cincinnati Enquirer. This horrible delicacy is served as follows: Resting on a large dish is a mat formed of rounds of glass held together by plaited threads, on which is a living fish with giüs and mouth moving regularly. At its back rises a bank of white shreds resembling damp isinglass, but in reality a colorless seaweed, while the flsh itself rests on damp green algae. In front is a pile of small slices of sawflsh garnished with. a radiating tuft of variegated bamboo leaves. A portion of the raw fish from the pile in front of the llviig victim Is now placed on a saucer and passed to one guest and so on with the rest till the pile Is consumed. Tnen the carver raises the skin (which has been already loosened) of the living flsh and proceeds to take slice after slice from the upper part. The creature has been carved while still alive, the pile of flesh flrst serred consisting of the lower half of the body. This has been done with suoh oonsummate skill that no vital part has been touched. The heart, the llver, the gills and the stomach are left intact, while the damp seaweed on which the flesh rests suffices to keep the lungs in action. The miserable victim looks on with lustrous eyes while its own body is consumed, probably the only instance of a living creature assisting as a spectator at its own entombment.