124 BRITISH FRESH-WATER FISHES 
fit for nothing better than to feed pigs withal. Undoubtedly 
barbel are regularly eaten by the inhabitants of many parts 
of the Continent ; but most writers report the flesh as very 
insipid. There is a good deal of evidence to the effect that the 
roe is actually deleterious to man, and even poisonous. Sir 
John Hawkins (1719-1789) went further, stating in a note to 
his edition of the Compleat Angler (1760) that one of his 
servants, who had eaten part of a barbel, but not the roe, 
“ was seized with such a violent purging and vomiting as 
had like to have cost him his life.” Dame Berners (1486) 
also utters a warning note. ‘‘ The barbyll is a swete fysshe, 
but it is a quasy mete, and peryllous for mannys bodye. For 
comynly he gevyth an introduction to the febris (fevers) ; 
and yf he be eten rawe, he maye be cause of mannys dethe, 
whyche hath oft been seene.”” One is disposed to ask whether, 
in making this statement, she had in her mind her own 
precept, not ‘‘ to wryte more than I knowe and haue prouyd.” 
Undoubtedly no man who values his health will be tempted 
to yield to an appetite for raw barbel, seeing that more than 
most fish is this one liable to harbour internal parasites of the 
most formidable description ; and, on the whole, even when 
cooked in the most artistic manner, it is food after which few 
people will hanker. Nevertheless in old times barbel were 
frequently served at royal and other banquets. 
The Gudgeon (Godio fluviatilis) 
Fin ForMvLa. TEETH. 
Dorsal: 9 or 10 rays. On the pharynx, 
Pectoral: 15 rays. hooked at the 
Ventral: 8 rays. end, in two rows. 
Anal: 8 rays. 
Caudal; 19 rays. 
The genus Godio consists of two species, both native to 
European waters. The British species, Godio fluviatilis, is 
slightly the larger, although it seldom attains six inches in 
