THE PIKE, JACK, OR LTJCE. I4i) 



deserts gastronomically, for, unless cooked "brown " after the French 

 style, and that when he is in full season and not too large, Jdo not think 

 him at all to be compared to a " good capon," much less to house lamb 

 in February. The roe has been supposed to be of a poisonous quality 

 when eaten, but Linnaeus avers he saw it dried and made into bread in 

 Lyksele, Lapland, which sufficiently quashes such an idea. Of course, it is 

 possible that, under certain circumstances, such diet might be injurious 

 to an European digestion, but the report was probably based on a solitary 

 instance of derangement, and is, no doubt, of little actual truth. 



Really the fish is an agreeable addition to the table of the poor at least, 

 if properly cooked. It may be filleted, and fried, or boiled. The former 

 I prefer. As I am, however, no cook, I must not presume to give direc- 

 tions for its treatment ; remembering the old Horatian maxim, Ne sutor, 

 &c. 



Like every other fish of any importance, the fanciful writers of other 

 days have attributed to the pike medicinal qualities of no mean order. 

 Nobbes says, " His head is very lean and bony, which bones in his head 

 shaped like a cross, some have resembled to things of mysterious 



consequence If these comparisons smell anything of superstition, 



yet as to physical use these bones may be profitable. For the jaw bone 

 beaten, topleurises and other complaints, some do approve of it as a remedy 

 for the pain in the heart and lungs, others affirm that the small bones 

 pulverised may be fitly used to dry up sores, and many the like medicinal 

 qualities are attributed to the pike head. Another ancient writer writing 

 of his Nature of Things, does discover a stone in the brain of the pike 

 much like unto a crystal. Gesner himself, the great naturalist, testifies 

 that he found in the head of a pike two white stones Gesner like- 

 wise observes that his heart and gall is very undeniable to cure agues, 

 abate fevers, &c., and that his biting is venomous and hard to be cured." 

 This latter part is certainly true, owing to the triangular shape of the 

 incisions made. Siebald, writing in the reign of Charles II., also refers 

 to what he doubtless thought correct, namely, that the heart of a pike 

 was really efficacious against febrile disorders, and that the gall was of 

 much use for bad eyes. All of these ideas, however, the reader need not 

 to be told are untrue and absurd. Blakey states that in Bohemia it was 

 considered an unlucky omen to witness the plunge of a pike before noon. 

 The Swedish fishermen, according to Yarrell, believe that it turns its 

 head towards the shore on St. Gregory's day, that is, March 12, and that 

 six days later it has approached the beach of the lake it inhabits, near 

 the influx of some stream, where the ice first breaks up. They also say 

 that phases of the moon influences its rapacity, and that its voracious- 

 ness increases daring the dog days. 



