116 FISH CULTUEE. 



lamprey ; stewed, however, it presents the best dish for 

 the gourmand, but it is also potted and made into pies. 

 It can hardly, however, be considered a fresh-water 

 fish, as it spends the greater part of the year in the 

 sea, merely entering our rivers, like the salmon, in 

 the months of April and May, to deposit its spawn ; 

 until this process is completed, it is in good condition. 

 It is seldom taken in the sea, however, and when 

 taken in the river is caught in any way but that 

 of angling. It grows to a considerable size, and often 

 weighs three or four pounds. Its power of fixing 

 itself to stones, or wood-work, or any other substance, 

 by means of the sucking apparatus at its mouth, 

 enables it to surmount any fall or obstacle to other 

 fish. It is found in almost all our larger English 

 rivers, as the Severn, the Trent, and formerly it was 

 common in the Thames; in the latter river, how- 

 ever, it is rarely met with now ; the sewage and filth, 

 probably, has driven it elsewhere. In the Usk it 

 abounds, and in some of the Scotch rivers, but in 

 neither case will the natives use it as food. In the 

 Shannon it is also plentiful. 



There is another species of lamprey, much smaller 

 in size, called the lampern, which resembles at first 

 sight a grig, or small eel ; it is of some ten or 

 twelve inches, or even more, in length. This little 



