l>8 MALACOP. ABDOM. CARP FAMILY. 



round which they would wind their spawn in con-^ 

 :5iderable quantities. " Barbel," he again remarks, 

 " appear to be almost in a perfectly torpid state in 

 very cold weather. They make their hybernacu- 

 lum amidst tufts of weeds, at the bottom of the 

 Thames, apparently either asleep or insensible. In- 

 deed, so torpid are they, that they may be taken 

 up by the hand. In very cold weather, the fisher- 

 men provide themselves with a net fastened to an 

 iron hoop, having a handle to it, which they place 

 near the fish, and v^ith a pole put it into the net, 

 so perfectly inanimate are they at this season.*' 

 Barbel are never seen to feed in winter. They 

 are generally agxeed to be the coarsest of fresh- 

 water fishes, and are seldom eaten but by the 

 poor, who sometimes boil them with bacon, to give 

 them a relish. The idea that even the roe is noxi- 

 ous, has been disproved by personal experiment by 

 Bloch. 



Gen. LIII. Gubio. — The Gobio in generic cha- 

 racters resembles the Barbus, with the exception of 

 having no strong bony serrated rays at the com- 

 mencement of either the dorsal or anal fins. 



(Sp. 100.) G. fluviatiUs. The Common Gud- 

 geon has a single cirrhus at each angle of the mouth. 

 It abounds on the continent of Europe, also in 

 England, more especially the southern parts ; but 

 like many of its congeners, it is unknown in Scot- 

 land. The colour of the upper parts of the body 

 is olive-brown spotted with black, gill-covers green- 

 ish white, with the under surface white : their 



