214 TRANSACTIONS, NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF GLASGOW. 



one, measuring 21 inches, I found the stomach, quite 

 empty, with the exception of a little mucus and 

 soft matter in the lower intestine. The stomach 

 was long and narrow, a continuation of the gullet, 

 8 inches long, which joined the intestine by a narrow 

 constriction, and turned upward for 5 inches till it 

 reached within 3 inches of the throat. This con- 

 volution occupied a space about midway between 

 the mouth and the anus. It again turned downward, 

 reaching the vent at a distance of 8 inches, thus 

 making the length of stomach and intestines about 

 equal to that of the whole fish. 



Another pike (length 29 inches, weight over 5 lbs.) 

 was found to contain in its stomach a powan, 

 Coregonns clupeoides, Lacep. The head was at the 

 bottom of the stomach, and the tail, or caudal fins, 

 were seen in the throat of the pike. I was informed 

 by the fishermen that this was not an unusual 

 occurrence. The powan seemed just to fill the 

 stomach. When taken out, the head was found to 

 be almost completely dissolved ; the body was less 

 and less affected as it n eared the mouth of the pike ; 

 and for fully 2 inches, the tail (exclusive of the caudal 

 fin) was free from the slightest marks of digestion. 



It therefore appears that the active digestive 

 power resides at the bottom of the stomach, which 

 we may assume is equivalent to a small digestive 

 organ ; and it seems very doubtful that the pike can 

 be such an insatiable glutton as he has been re- 

 presented. He may like a good meal when he can 

 get it, but he must have time to dispose of it before 

 he can be ready for another, and judging from the 

 comparatively small means at his disposal, he may 

 require longer time than most of his brethren of less 

 notoriety. For all the great gormandizing that he 

 has done, or has been supposed to do, he is never 

 represented with that rotundity consequent on an 

 overloaded stomach, neither does the conformation 

 of the^body, stomach, or intestines, admit of such. 



