Editing Isinglass (section)

{{short description|Substance obtained from the dried swim bladders of fish}}
{{For|the material used as window sheets|mica}}
{{Other uses}}
[[File:Colla di pesce.JPG|thumb|Isinglass]]
[[File:Swim bladder.jpg|thumb|Swim bladder of a [[common rudd|rudd]] (''Scardinius&nbsp;erythrophthalmus'')]]

'''Isinglass''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|aɪ|z|ɪ|ŋ|ɡ|l|æ|s|,_|-|ɡ|l|ɑː|s}} {{respell|EYE|zing|gla(h)ss}}) is a form of [[collagen]] obtained from the dried [[swim bladder]]s of [[fish]]. The English word origin is from the obsolete Dutch ''huizenblaas'' – ''huizen'' is a kind of [[sturgeon]], and  ''blaas'' is a bladder,<ref>(Chambers 20th century dictionary)</ref> or German ''Hausenblase'', meaning essentially the same.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Wedgwood|first=Hensleigh|author-link=Hensleigh Wedgwood|title=On False Etymologies|journal=Transactions of the Philological Society|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b3924121;view=1up;seq=76|year=1855|issue=6|pages=66}}</ref> The bladders, once removed from the fish, processed, and dried, are formed into various shapes for use.

It is used mainly for the [[Clarification (wine)|clarification]] or fining of some [[beer]] and [[wine]]. It can also be cooked into a paste for specialised [[Fish glue|gluing]] purposes.

Although originally made exclusively from sturgeon, especially [[Beluga (sturgeon)|beluga]], in 1795 an invention by [[William Murdoch]] facilitated a cheap substitute using [[cod]]. This was extensively used in [[United Kingdom|Britain]] in place of [[Russia]]n isinglass, and in the US hake was important. In modern British brewing all commercial isinglass products are blends of material from a limited range of tropical fish.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Baxter ED, Cooper D, Fisher GM, Muller RE |title=Analysis of Isinglass Residues in Beer |journal=Journal of the Institute of Brewing |date=2007 |volume=13 |issue=2 |pages=130–134 |doi= 10.1002/j.2050-0416.2007.tb00268.x }}</ref>