MINNOW. 65 



it is common, and in some districts of this j)ortion of Britain 

 it is the only one of the family of Carps which inhabits the 

 rivers. 



We learn that it is known in Sweden and Norway, and 

 supposing it to be the Phoxinus mentioned by Aristotle and 

 Pliny, it occurs in Macedonia or Greece; although it is not 

 recognised in Italy by Risso. In some of the smaller streams 

 in Cornwall it is not found; but in many of the isolated ponds 

 or pools on the wilder downs of that county they abound; 

 although it seems difficult to imagine in what manner they can 

 have been conveyed thither; and the ponds themselves are 

 distant from any river, so that they appear to be supplied with 

 water only from the draining of the surrounding soil or the 

 occasional fall of rain. But, besides the Minnows there is found 

 in these solitary ponds a fine species of Trout, which nearly 

 resembles that of the Loe Pool, in the same county; and to 

 these the Minnow can furnish a sufficient supply of food, while 

 the manner in which itself manages to obtain subsistence has 

 escaped observation. These pools must be of ancient date, but 

 in appearance they are nothing more than the excavations made 

 by miners in remote times in their search for tin. 



In the flowing streams inhabited by this fish it is necessary 

 there should be some deeper recesses into which it may retire 

 from the influence of the colder seasons, to which it is highly 

 sensitive; but in sunmer it is active and frolicsome in shallower 

 water over a gravelly bottom; where numerous companies are 

 seen enjoying themselves in sport, unconscious of the danger 

 which besets them from ravenous enemies, which rush su.ddenly 

 among them, while such as are so fortunate as to escape are 

 dispersed in all directions. Perhaps the Trout is their most 

 destructive foe, and no more enticing bait can be employed to 

 entice that fish to its own destruction; but indeed there are 

 few of the predaceous fishes which inhabit fresh water that do 

 not prove themselves formidable enemies to this little fish; for 

 in the earliest stage of its existence there are larvae of insects 

 which prey upon it; so that if it were not exceedingly prolific, 

 the race itself would be in danger of becoming extinct. 



But to counteract this extremity of hazard, Aristotle has 

 remarked that the Phoxinus begins to breed almost as soon as 

 it has come into existence, which is only an exaggeration of 



VOL. IV. K 



