THE FOURTH DAY -continued 

 On the Perch 



CHAPTER XII 



PISCATOR AND VENATOR 



PlSCATOR. 'The Perch is a very good and very 

 bold biting fish. He is one of the fishes of prey 

 that, like the Pike and Trout, carries his teeth in 

 his mouth, which is very large : and he dare venture 

 to kill and devour several other kinds of fish. He 

 has a hooked or hog back, which is armed with 

 sharp and stiff bristles, and all his skin armed, or 

 covered over with thick dry hard scales, and hath, 

 which few other fish have, two fins on his back. He is 

 so bold that he will invade one of his own kind, which 

 the Pike will not do so willingly ; and you may, 

 therefore, easily believe him to be a bold biter. 



The Perch is of great esteem in Italy, saith 

 Aldrovandus : and especially the least are there 

 esteemed a dainty dish. And Gesner prefers the 

 Perch and Pike above the Trout, or any fresh-water 

 fish: he says the Germans have this proverb, 

 " More wholesome than a Perch of Rhine " : and he 

 says the River-Perch is so wholesome, that physi- 

 cians allow him to be eaten by wounded men, or 

 by men in fevers, or by women in child-bed. 



He spawns but once a year ; and is, by physicians 



