CO 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[Mabch 1, 1SCC. 



Pig. 09. T H E PIKE.- (Esox hmns.) 



rpiIIS well-known tyrant of our rippling waters 

 -*- needs no specific description. Not only in 

 Great Britain, but also in most of the countries of 

 Europe, it is far from uncommon ; from Norway and 

 Sweden in the North, to Spain and Italy in the 

 South. It is said, moreover, to extend through the 

 temperate regions of Asia, as far as China, and even 

 to find a home in the rivers of North America. 



Many stories have been told of its longevity and 

 rapacity, but none more clearly indicates its ferocity 

 when pressed by hunger, than that narrated by 

 Mr. Cholmondeley Pennell : — 



" A young gentleman of fifteen years of age went 

 with three other boys to bathe in Inglemere Pond, 

 near Ascot, in June, 1856. He walked gently into 

 the water to about the depth of four feet, when he 

 spread out his hands to attempt to swim : instantly 

 a large fish came up and took his hand into his 

 mouth as far as the wrist, but finding he could not 

 swallow it, relinquished his hold, and the boy, turn- 

 ing round, prepared for a hasty retreat out of the 

 pond ; his companions, who saw it, also scrambled 

 out as fast as possible. He had scarcely turned 

 himself rouud, when the fish came up behind him, 

 and immediately seized his other hand crosswise, 

 inflicting some very deep wounds on the back of it : 

 the boy raised his first-bitten and still bleeding arm, 

 and struck the monster a hard blow on the head, 

 when the fish disappeared. Seven wounds were 

 dressed on one hand, and so great was the pain the 

 next day, that the lad fainted twice ; the little finger 

 was bitten through the nail, and it was more than 

 six weeks before it was well. The nail came off, and 

 the scar remains to this day. A few days after this 

 occurrence, one of the woodmen was walking by the 

 side of the pond, when lie saw something white 

 floating. It was found to be a large pike in a dying 

 state, and he brought it to the shore, and the boy at 

 once recognized his antagonist. The fish appeared 

 to have been a long time in the agonies of death, 

 and the body was very lean, and curved like a bow. 

 It measured forty-one inches. There can be no 

 doubt the fish was in a state of complete starvation. 

 If well fed, it would probably have weighed from 

 thirty to forty pounds." 



The maximum size and weight to which a pike 

 will attain has not been satisfactorily determined. 

 Mr. Pennell states that he can easily refer to many 

 attested examples of pike having been taken in the 

 British islands, up to the weight of 70, 80, and 

 90 lbs. Colonel Thornton refers to one taken from 

 a sheet of water at Lochaber of 146 lbs. ; and Sir 

 John Hawkins mentions one taken in 1765, which 

 weighed 170 lbs. Block states that he once examined 

 a portion of the skeleton of a specimen which 

 measured S feet. 



What is the duration of the life of a pike, is still 

 an " open question." That it will attain a great 

 age is certain, but whether it will live, as is nar- 

 rated of the Kaiserwag pike, for 267 years, is not so 

 readily assented to. It will most probably vie 

 with man in the duration of its existence, for 

 Pennant alludes to one which was 90 years old. 



A curious little creature may be seen roaming at 

 will over the body of a pike, even when confined in 

 an aquarium ; and if this parasite is only as trouble- 

 some as some which delight in the human body, then 

 the life of a pike is not altogether one of unmixed 

 serenity. 



Arijtdtisfoliaceus, for so the parasite is named, is 



Fig. 70. Parasite of Pike, Avgulus foliaceus, 

 natural size, and magnified. 



figured for the benefit of those who have not before 

 had the opportunity of making its acquaintance. 



