62 MALACOP. ABDOM. CARP FAMILY. 



sel Loch ; also in Ireland, in the counties Cork, Kil- 

 kenny, and Dublin. According to I. Walton, it loves 

 ponds better than rivers, and pits better than either ; 

 and to Mr. Yarrell, it is mostly in those rivers that 

 are slow and deep, that this fish is found ; and in 

 such situations it is not so prolific as in ponds. In 

 deep pits, in which clay for bricks has been dug 

 out, it is often abundant ; and broad shallow waters, 

 on muddy bottoms, frequently produce great quan- 

 tities, as is the case with some extensive tracts of 

 water near Yarmouth, in Norfolk, from which, if 

 the fish be taken and removed to stews, where they 

 are fed with a mixture of greaves and meal, they 

 thrive greatly. 



This fish is exceedingly tenacious of life, a trait 

 which is demonstrated by experiments which show 

 that a Tench can live in water whose oxygen is re- 

 duced to the one five-thousandth part of the bulk of 

 water, ordinary river water containing about one 

 per cent. ; a fact, as observed by Dr. Roget, which 

 evinces the admirable perfection of the respiratory 

 organs of the fish. This trait is strikingly illustrated 

 by the following fact taken from Daniel's Rural 

 Sports. " A piece of water which had been ordered 

 to be filled up, and into which wood and rubbish 

 had been thrown for years, was directed to be 

 cleared out. Almost choked up by weeds and mud, 

 so little water remained that no one expected to see 

 any fish, except a few eels ; and yet nearly two 

 hundred brace of Tench of all sizes, and as many 

 Perch, were found. After the pond was thought to 



