SILURTTS GLANIS. 93 



bottom, where it lies coueealed under roots o£ trees, awaiting prey. The 

 barbels are used to attract fishes ; but if fishes are scarce it will eat frogs, 

 crayfish, water-birds, or, in fact, an3'thing that lives in the water or comes 

 into it. It will seize on swimming ducks or wading geese; and Heckel and 

 Kner mention that a poodle and the remains of a boy have been found in the 

 stomachs of old fish. 



The Wels has an evil reputation along the Danube, and on the Murtner See 

 a superstitious belief prevailed that a fisherman always died when a Silurus 

 was captured, a legend which may have arisen from the dangerous wounds 

 which it is able to inflict with the sharp bony ray of the pectoral fin. In 

 stormy weather it comes to the surface of the water, and is hence looked upon 

 as a weather prophet. 



It spawns in June and July, when it rises to the banks to lay its eggs on 

 water plants. The eggs are pale yellow, about three millimetres in diameter, 

 and, according to Dr. Benecke, 60,000 may occur in a fish of four pounds. 

 The young are extruded from the eggs in eight to fourteen days. In the first 

 year the weight may be as much as one pound and a half, and in the second 

 year may reach three pounds, though it is usually less. According to Hun- 

 garian fishermen, it lives for ten to twelve years, but probably has a much 

 longer life. The flesh is white, flaky, and Avell flavoured. When young, 

 the fish is fat, and is then used for food ; but in old age it becomes tough, 

 and is not much prized. The fat is used for dresshig leather. The swim- 

 bladder is treated, like that of the Sturgeon, for the manufacture of isinglass 

 and glue. It is not easily caught, for, living at the bottom, the nets often 

 pass over it ; and a large fish is powerful enough to break such nets as are 

 likely to be used. 



During the spawning-time old fishes may be taken at night, but young 

 examples are captured with the rod and line. In Russia it is salted, and ex- 

 ported from Astrakhan. 



It is distributed in Europe to the east of the Rhine, in which it is rare. 

 In the Frische-Haff, specimens twenty centimetres long are abundant, but ex- 

 amples one metre long are uncommon. The largest individuals are caught in 

 lakes. There are some local varieties in Continental rivers, such as in the Maros 

 and Szamos ; and Heckel and Kner mention a beautifully-coloured, spotless, 

 yellowish fish with a darker back, which is seen in the Vienna fish-market. 



