58 MALACOP. ABDOM. CARP FAMILY. 



round which they would wind their spawn in con- 

 siderable quantities. " Barbel," he again remarks, 

 " appear to be almost in a perfectly torpid state in 

 very cold weather. They make their hybernacu- 

 lum amidst tufts of weeds, at the bottom of the 

 Thames, apparently either asleep or insensible. In- 

 deed, so torpid are they, that they may be taken 

 up by the hand. In very cold weather, the fisher- 

 men provide themselves with a net fastened to an 

 iron hoop, having a handle to it, which they place 

 near the fish, and with a pole put it into the net, 

 so perfectly inanimate are they at this season." 

 Barbel are never seen to feed in winter. They 

 are generally agreed to be the coarsest of fresh- 

 water fishes, and are seldom eaten but by the 

 poor, who sometimes boil them with bacon, to give 

 them a relish. The idea that even the roe is noxi- 

 ous, has been disproved by personal experiment by 

 Bloch. 



Gen. LIII. GOBIO. The Gobio in generic cha- 

 racters resembles the Barbus, with the exception of 

 having no strong bony serrated rays at the com- 

 mencement of either the dorsal or anal fins. 



(Sp. 100.) G. fluviatilis. The Common Gud- 

 geon has a single cirrhus at each angle of the mouth. 

 It abounds on the continent of Europe, also in 

 England, more especially the southern parts ; but 

 like many of its congeners, it is unknown in Scot- 

 land. The colour of the upper parts of the body 

 is olive-brown spotted with black, gill-covers green- 

 ish white, with the under surface white : their 



