FISHES AND FISHING. 199 



A tench is said to be the physician of other fish ; 

 and it is a well-known fact, that no pike or perch 

 will take a small tench, if offered as a bait ; the slime 

 there is on a tench, possesses a healing property, and 

 instinct teaches other fish when wounded, to avail 

 themselves of it, as this instance will demonstrate 

 Minnows and gold fish, in a state of confinement^ 

 impelled by hanger, eagerly seize a small common 

 fly. A gentleman, who was unfortunately unable to 

 leave the house for some time, through an accident, 

 on whom I often called, amused himself by making 

 small artificial flies, which he did very neatly ; he 

 kept some minnows, and a tench about two inches 

 and a quarter long, in a very large wide-mouthed 

 bottle; all the minnows had died, except one; my 

 friend was just finishing a fly as I went into his room, 

 and he held it upon the surface of the water in the 

 bottle, as he was often in the habit of doing ; the 

 minnow darted at it so rapidly, that he could not 

 withdraw the fly in time to prevent the hook from 

 pricking the minnow ; the little fish descended three 

 parts of the way down the bottle, poised himself for a 

 moment, with his nose pointing downwards, then 

 swiftly went the remainder of the way, rubbed his 

 nose during a few seconds against the side of the 

 tench, who remained perfectly quiet, and then the 

 minnow swam about as lively as before. "We both 



