Class IV. PIKE. 323 



but Gefner* relates, that in the year 1497, a P^ e 

 was taken near Hailbrun, in Suabia, with a brazen 

 ring affixed to it, on which were thefe words in 

 Greek characters : I am the fijh which was firft of all 

 put into this lake by the hands of the governor of the 

 univerfe,- Frederick the Second, the $th 0/ October, 

 1230 : fo that the former rnuft have been an infant 

 to this Methufalem of a fifh. 



Pikes fpavvn in March or April, according to 

 the coldnefs or warmth of the weather. When 

 they are in high leafon their colors are very fine, 

 being green, fpotted with bright yellow ; and the 

 gills are of a mod vivid and full red. When out 

 of feafon, the green changes to grey, and the yel- 

 low fpots turn pale. 



The head is very flat ; the upper jaw broad, and Descrif, 

 is fhorter than the lower: the under jaw turns up a 

 little at the end, and is marked with minute punc~ 

 tures. 



The teeth are very fharp, difpofed only in the 

 front of the upper jaw, but in both fides of the 

 lower, in the roof of the mouth, and often the 

 tongue. The flit of the mouth, or the gape, is 

 very wide ; the eyes fmall. 



The dorfal fin is placed very low on the back, 

 and confifts of twenty-one rays •, the pectoral of 

 fifteen \ the ventral of eleven j the anal of eighteen. 



The tail is bifurcated. 



* Jconts pifcium, 316, where a print of the ring is given. 



Y 2 Bitivrf. 



