DUBHAVIUS BE PISCINIS AND J. TAVERNER. 335 



There is a coi)y iu the Bodleian Library at Oxford. The 

 title is '' Dubravins de Piscinis." For many years I kept 

 a sharp look out for this book, and was at last fortunate 

 enough to buy one at a bookstall for eighteen-pence ; 

 it is a little book, six inches by four inches. It is 

 beautifully printed, and the ink blacker than any inks 

 used now. The date of it is 1559, therefore it was pub- 

 lished 321 years ago, in the second year of the reign of 

 Queen Elizabeth. This is a copy of the title-page: 

 " Jani Dubravii qui postea Olomucensis Episcopus 

 creatus est De Piscinis et Piscibus qui in eis aluntur, 

 naturis libri quinque, vi doctissimi, ita ad rem famili- 

 arem augendam utilissimi, ad illustrem virum Antonium 

 Fuggerum. 1559." 



Dubravius w^as a high chmxh dignitary. Bishop of 

 Olmutz in Moravia. Bishop or no bishop, he knew 

 more about fish-ponds than we do at the present day. 



After him came another writer on fish-ponds, to wit, 

 John Taverner, gentleman, who in 1600 (the 42nd year 

 of the reign of Queen Elizabeth), published a companion 

 treatise, of which the following is the title : " Certaine 

 Experiments concerning Fish and Fruite practised by 

 John Taverner, and by him published for the benefit of 

 others." (Small 4to. London : printed for Wilham 

 Ponsonby, 1600. 38 pp.) This tract is in black letter, 

 and a very rare book. 



The following is an abstract of the advice Dubravius 

 gives us as to the cultivation of fish-ponds : — 



" Experience has shown that the proper treatment of 

 fish-ponds is to alternate a cro}) of fish with a crop of 

 vegetables. 



" Each i)ond should be so arranged that it can run 

 perfectly dry at will. 



" We will suppose three ponds to be in existence — 



