THE TENCH 145 
short—that is, the bases occupy but a short space on the 
body ; but they are high or deep in comparison with their 
breadth, with bold rounded outlines. The ventral fins of 
the male, in young fish identical with those of the female, 
become modified with age into a concave shape, the first 
ray being greatly thickened. The bones and muscles attached 
to the base of these fins in the male are so fashioned as to 
enable the fish to draw in the abdomen in a_ peculiar 
manner. This has been explained as a means to facili- 
tate the discharge of the milt, which other fish hasten by 
rubbing themselves on stones or stakes—objects not often 
to be found on the soft, muddy bottoms usually frequented 
by tench. 
Tench have no liking for swift waters. A pond or 
disused clay pit, with a soft bottom where they can bury 
Distribution themselves in cold weather, is what they dearly 
and habits. Jove. When that cannot be their lot, then are 
they fain to put up with such rivers as the Thames, where 
there are long and deep sluggish reaches; but they hold 
strongly the belief that all running water is water running 
to waste. They are believed not to be indigenous to Britain, 
although firmly established in both England and Ireland ; 
possibly also in Scotland, though I have not met with them 
there. They are common throughout Central and Southern 
Europe in all suitable waters. They are seldom taken in 
England of more than 3 lb. or 4 lb. in weight, although 
pisciculturists in Germany rear them to double those dimensions 
in their carp ponds. There is a very circumstantial account 
in Daniel’s Rural Sports of a very large tench taken from 
a piece of water which had been made the receptacle of waste 
wood and rubbish for many years. Orders having been given 
to have this pond cleared out, nobody expected to find 
in it any fish, except perhaps a few eels; but to the general 
surprise, when the water was run off some 400 tench, 
and as many perch, were laid dry. Then, in a hole under 
IO 
