142 BRITISH FRESHWATER FISHES 



weighed 32 lbs., the other taken in May only 

 20J lbs. Still greater is the difference between a 

 fish in good condition and an emaciated fish which 

 has perished of starvation or from senile decay, 

 and in which the head appears disproportionately 

 large. So that the weight of Sir Arthur Henniker- 

 Hughan's fish may be taken as corroborative 

 evidence that the Kenmure Pike actually weighed 

 some 60 or 70 lbs. 



The principal measurements in inches of the 

 heads of three large Pike from Loch Ken may be 

 of interest. A and B are the property of Sir 

 A. Henniker-Hughan ; A pertains to a Pike caught 

 in June, 1898, which weighed 37 lbs., and would 

 doubtless have weighed considerably more a few 

 months earlier or later. B is the head of the 

 39-lb. Pike mentioned above, and C that of the 

 Kenmure Pike. 



ABC 

 Total length (measured in a straight line 



from level of end of snout to extremity of 



operculum) . . . . . 11 12 — 



Length on upper surface from anterior edge 



of vomer to posterior edge of frontals . 7^ 8^ 8^ 



Greatest width across frontal bones . . 2| 3 3 



Extreme length of maxillary . . . 4^ 5 5 



Lower jaw (measured in a straight line from 



symphysis to angle) . . . • 8j 8| 8| 



These measurements are either of the skeleton of 

 the head (C) or of heads which have been dried 

 (A and B), and are less than they would have been 

 if the fish had been fresh or preserved in spirit. 

 The figures scarcely convey an adequate idea of 

 the great difference in bulk between the heads A 

 and B ; no one who compared them side by side 



