126 LATEST ACHIEVEMENT IN PISCICULTURE. [CHAP. in. 



three to four pounds weight, as delicious as a Dublin Bay 

 haddock when fresh, and when barrelled considered a luxury 

 in the Central and Southern States of America and the West 

 Indies, bringing 50 per cent over the price of barrelled trout. 

 Different from our fresh-water fish, it is a vegetarian, living 

 on weeds and moss. It is a great article of food in the North- 

 Western States of America and Canada, the exports of it being 

 $464,479 in 1861 from the states on the lakes; but I have 

 no return from Canada, which may be about one-half more, 

 making a total of over $700,000, or 140,000 a year." 



The latest achievement in pisciculture has been the intro- 

 duction to this part of Europe of "theWels" (Silurus glanis), 

 an interesting account of which lately appeared in the Field 

 newspaper. Great expectations have been formed that this 

 gigantic fish may be successfully reared in England. It is, 

 I believe, the largest European fresh-water fish, commonly 

 attaining a weight of from fifty to eighty pounds, and indi- 

 viduals have been found of the extraordinary size of four 

 cwts. ! Dr. Gunther, the eminent ichthyologist, remarks that 

 this is the only foreign fish which it would be worth while to 

 introduce into this country ; and thinks that, in several of 

 our lakes, particularly those in peat soil, it might be usefully 

 placed. 



The following particulars regarding this new food fish 

 have been printed by the Acclimatisation Society, to whom 

 the greatest praise is due for its introduction : Its appear- 

 ance is not pleasant, the large flattened head having a 

 capacious mouth, which is capable of seizing the largest kind 

 of prey ; so that if this fish be successfully propagated in 

 our streams and lakes, the pike, the water-wolf of the British 

 waters, will meet with more than its match. The habits of 

 the Silurus glanis are said to be most ferocious, and its 

 growth, provided there be a sufficient supply of food, very 

 rapid. The body is less elongated than the eel, and there are, 



