44 THE CRUCIAN, 



The crucian, in parts of Sweden is looked upon rather as 

 a dainty, but its good repute is partly owing to the rich sauces 

 with which it is mostly served up. It is said to disagree 

 with some people. Ekstrom makes mention of an indi- 

 vidual whose head, after partaking of it, always became 

 swollen. In other respects, however, the man continued in 

 health, and after a day the swelling went down. 



Ekstrom says the crucian is the most tenacious of life of 

 all the carp family. " One summer morning at five o'clock," 

 so he tells us, "a fish was taken out of the Sump, or fish- 

 box, where it had been confined for several days, and was 

 carried up to the parsonage, where it was placed on a 

 table, and a description and a portrait of it were taken. 

 About six in the evening, and after the fish had been fully 

 thirteen hours out of the water, it was cut in two across the 

 middle. The heart, liver, &c., were taken out, drawings 

 made of the sections, and all the appearances were noted 

 down. When all this was done, and the divided portions 

 were about to be taken away, parts about the head still 

 moved, the gills opened and shut, the mouth gaped and 

 closed. I allowed the pieces to remain on the table, that I 

 might ascertain how long any signs of life would continue ; 

 and it was not until nine o'clock that these evidences of vitality 

 ceased. The fish had therefore lived out of the water for 

 sixteen hours, the last three when mutilated as described." 



With us the crucian spawned about June. It is a prolific 

 fish. The young are said to grow slowly, but to be soon 

 capable of procreation. 



The Tench (Lindare ; Sutare, Sw. ; 0. Tinea, Linn.) 

 was said to be an inhabitant of some of the lakes in my 

 vicinity, as also of the Wenern, but it never came under 



