100 MALACOP. ABDOM. PIKE FAMILY. 



him when he is caught is choicely good, for I ha^e 

 tried it. First open your Pike at the gills, and gut 

 him ; keep his liver, with which shred thyme, sweet 

 marjoram, and a little winter savoury ; to these put 

 some pickled oysters and some anchovies, two or 

 three ; to these you add sweet-butter and salt ; 

 these must be used as stuffing : then he is spitted 

 and roasted very leisurely, often basted with claret, 

 anchovies, and butter." But we cannot get through 

 this long rigmarole, and conclude with the summa- 

 tion. " This dish of meat is much too good for any 

 but anglers or very honest men ; I trust you will 

 prove both, and therefore I have trusted you with 

 the secret." 



Gen. LX. BELONE. The head and body of this 

 genus are greatly elongated, and the latter is covered 

 within minute scales; both jaws are much pro- 

 duced, and armed with numerous teeth ; the dorsal 

 fin is placed over the anal, and both are entire. 

 The genus is somewhat numerous throughout the 

 ocean, though its existence in the American seas 

 does not appear to be quite ascertained : some reach 

 the length of eight feet, and are said to bite very 

 severely. One species is familiarly known in Euro- 

 pean and British seas ; it is 



(Sp. 118.) B. vulgaris. The Gar-fish, Sea-pike, 

 Mackerel-guide, is by no means uncommon round 

 the shores of the British islands, apparently some- 

 what more abundant towards the north : it is also 

 well known in the Baltic. Dr. Parnell informs us 

 that it visits the Firth of Forth in large shoals, 



