THE PERCH. 159 



although instances must doubtless occur of the spines often proving 

 inconvenient in the process of digestion, and sometimes producing 

 even fatal results, yet they are insufficient to restrain the avidity of 

 a hungry pike ; which is not perhaps so much to be wondered at 

 when we consider that reasoning creatures are so frequently to be 

 met with, who, with a full conviction of the consequences, are 

 found to ' ' take an enemy into their mouths, to steal away their 

 brains ;" well knowing at the same time that^by so doing they are 

 shortening their days, and bringing themselves nearer to the awful 

 account they thus make themselves the more unfit to render. 



Water fowl also, of various kind, prey upon the roe of 

 a perch before it is vivified, as the spawn of these fishes is not 

 hidden in the ground like that of the trout or salmon, but exposed 

 to open view like that of frogs or toads, four or five being enclosed 

 in one common membrane.* 



There is also a small crustaceous parasitical insect that main- 

 uates itself into their gills, causing a great annoyance to the unfor- 

 tunate fishes it infests, and often proving fatal to their existence* 

 They are also subject when the waters are frozen to a disease in 

 the mucous membrane, which covers the cavity of the mouth, as 

 also that which covers the rectum, both of which become swollen 

 and enlarged, and unless air be speedily admitted they die. So 

 impatient indeed are they at the want of air when the waters are 

 frozen over that it is stated, and upon pretty sound authority, t 

 that if a hole be made in the ice they will repair to it with eager- 

 ness, and may be easily taken there even by the hand. 



The perch prefer the gentle to the rapid stream, not delighting 

 like the trout in the rippling shallows, but resorting chiefly to the 

 eddies, and more tranquil parts of the river. An eddy in a deep 

 round pool is the most likely place for a perch, or rather a shoal of 

 them, as they are of a social disposition, and generally move about 

 in troops. 



In ponds they usually roam about from place to place in search 

 of food, having some resorts they are pretty sure to visit one 

 time or other in the course of the day. They are, either in pond 



* Griffith sup. to Cuv ., Vol. 10, p. 272. 

 t Griffith sup, to Cuv., Vol. 10, p. 272. 



