8 HABITS AND STRUCTURE OF BARBEL. 



found in parts of the river wliere the water runs quickly, 

 scours, and shallows. The barbel is not good food, 

 nevertheless the Jews eat him during their holidays. 

 The eggs of the barbel are said to be poisonous, and to 

 produce the same symptoms as belladonna. Fisher- 

 men about Windsor have a horror of barbel's roe, so 

 there must be something in the story. 



When the weeds die off and the winter comes, the 

 barbel, as it were, hybernates ; he goes into deep holes, 

 and there remains until the warm weather returns. 

 I once discovered the winter haunt of these barbel at 

 Old Windsor; a very large number of them lay perfectly 

 quiet in a very deep hole under the roots of a willow 

 tree. They seemed very torpid. I did not disturb them, 

 nor did I tell anybody of their whereabouts. The head 

 of the barbel makes a beautiful preparation when dried. 

 Two heads should be dried, one with the pig-like lips 

 shut, the other with the same expanded. It will be 

 seen that he has four barbules at the end of his upper 

 jaw, and two shorter attached to the orifice of the lips. 

 The use of these, no doubt, is to enable the fish to find 

 his food at the bottom of the deep holes where he lives, 

 to which, I expect, very little daylight reaches. I 

 expect the barbel is very nocturnal in his habits. 

 Anglers for barbel tell me that the best sport at 

 barbel catching is after dark, when the mills are stopped, 

 and the barbel are hunting about in places where they 

 could not probably get when the stream was running in 

 full force. 



When a barbel is hooked, he always endeavours to 

 strike at the line with his tail, to break it. Now, if we 

 examine the back fin of the barbel, we shall find that 

 the first ray of it is cut out into deep notches, just like 

 a saw. The use of this fin I imagine to be to steady 



