32 ANCIENT ANGLING AUTHORS 



of the spontaneous generation of fish from weeds, 

 which Walton, writing more than half a century later, 

 repeats from Gesner ; and as a work on pisciculture, 

 his book is a far more valuable one than Roger 

 North's, written in 171 3. Taverner dedicates his book 

 to the " Right Honorable Sir Edmond Anderson 

 Knight, Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas." 



The book commences : " First it is requisite to 

 speake of ponds," of which he describes two kinds, 

 "the one digged right downe into the ground by 

 labour of man, and the other made with a head in a 

 valley betweene two hils." 



He directs that the ponds should be stored in 

 " January, February, or March : after which time it 

 is not good to carry or handle any fish all the 

 summer time, until it be October or November." 



The above rule is observed at the present day in 

 regard to the transit of fish for restocking purposes. 



He divides fish into two classes, the "ravening" 

 fish, and those which live upon corn, roots, worms, 

 etc. The ravening fish are the pike, the trout, and 

 the eel. As examples of the other class he mentions 

 carp, bream, and tench. 



The following is the first mention of the carp 

 family having their teeth in their throat ; the credit 

 of first recording this fact has been erroneously 

 awarded to William Lawson, who wrote twenty 

 years later : 



The fore sayd devouring fish have only dog-teeth 



