GEN. ABRAMIS. THE BREAM. 65 



fcor-fish ; and hence this practical author makes this 

 virtue the ostensible reason of its introduction into 

 fresh-water preserves. The ingenious Moses Brown, 

 in his Piscatory Eclogues has embodied this senti- 

 ment, for against such authority we must not call 

 it prejudice, as it respects the Pike, in the following 

 lines : — 



The Tench he spares — 



For \rhen by wounds distress'd, or sore disease, 



He courts the salutary fish for ease ; 



Close to his scales the kind physician glides, 



And sweats the healing balsam from his sides. 



Gen. LY. Abramis. • — This genus has neither 

 spines nor barbules ; the dorsal is short, and placed 

 behind the ventral fin ; the base of the anal is long. 

 Til ere are several species on the continent of Eu- 

 rope, where they abound, extending to a high lati- 

 tude ; they have also been observed both in Asia 

 and America. Three species are catalogued aa 

 British. 



(Sp. 102.) A. hrama. The Bream, or Carp- 

 bream, is by much the largest of the British spe- 

 cies, being, in the language of I. Walton, a larga 

 and stately fish. Its specific characters will be 

 elsewhere more minutely detailed. The prevailing 

 colour is yellowish white, becomhig darker with 

 age ; the irides are golden yellow ; the cheeks and 

 gill-covers silvery white; the fins light- coloured, 

 the pectorals and ventrals tinged with red, the 

 others with brown. This fish thrives most in deep 

 quiet rivers and large pieces of water, such as large 



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