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species to attain an extraordinary bulk, and 

 tenches have been seen of an astonishing size 

 comparatively with the common length and thick- 

 ness of the fish. We have read, as a well au- 

 thenticated fact, that, in the northern part of 

 England, and in a piece of water which, having 

 been long neglected, was filled with pieces of 

 timber, stones, and rubbish, a great number of 

 tenches of good size had been found ; and that 

 one, in particular, which seemed to have been 

 shut up in a nook, had not only surpassed in 

 size the common ones, but had also taken the 

 form of the hole in which it had accidentally 

 been confined. The body was in the shape of 

 a half moon, answering in the convexity of its 

 outlines the concavity of the dungeon where 

 this innocent sufferer had been immured for 

 several years. Did the water which the im- 

 prisoned creature inhaled, carry in itself food 

 enough not only to support but even over-supply 

 the cravings of nature, and produce superabun- 

 dance of nourishment? or did some kindred 

 neighbour bring small insects, or other aliment, 

 in pity for the confined sister of the pond ; an 

 act of charity which has been often remarked in 

 other individuals of the brute creation] How- 



