42 THE FRESH-WATER FRSHES OF EUROPE. 



to deposit its eggs ; but in the Swedish lakes it is said to spawn in deep 

 water, and only at night. A single animal will deposit between 200,000 

 and 300,000 eggs, which have a pale yellow colour, and are each about one 

 millimetre in diameter. This roe, with that of the Bream and Roach, is made 

 by the Russians into scaled-fish caviare, which is termed tchastikovi, and is 

 exported from Astrakhan to Turkey and Greece. With abundant food the fish 

 grows rapidly, especially if it remains in the marshy districts, attaining in the 

 first year a weight of one pound and a half ; in the second year it weighs 

 two pounds and a half, and in the third year from five to six pounds. In 

 the lower waters of the Danube, however, its weight in the first year is only 

 three-quarters of a pound, and in the second year two pounds. It is not 

 tenacious of life, and is, therefore, transported with difficulty. It lives only 

 from eight to ten years. It is most readily captured when it comes up from 

 the deep water to spawn, being then bold and incautious. At other times 

 only single individuals are caught with the line. When taken out of the 

 water it discharges the air from the swim-bladder with some noise. In 

 the Flatten See it is captured in winter with a large drag-net pushed 

 under the ice, and the larger individuals reach the market in Vienna. 

 Swedish fishermen, according to Eckstrom, pierce the tail near the caudal 

 fin, so that the blood runs freely, when the flesh is whiter. In summer 

 the fish is in less demand, and finds but little sale. The flesh is then divided 

 down the length, salted, and dried in the air, and in many places in Austria 

 and Russia great heaps of the dried fishes may be seen along the banks 

 of lakes and rivers, built up like stacks of wood. Lloyd says its fat is 

 used by Scandinavian peasants as an embrocation for the cure of rheuma- 

 tism and sprains. Its flesh is white, firm, well-flavoured, and esteemed, 

 especially when the fishes have been well fed. It should be eaten boiled 

 as soon as caught. The price varies, according to Brehm, from one shilling 

 a pound to five pounds for eighteen-pence. 



It is not suited as a breeding-fish for culture. It flourishes well in 

 ponds which have a current of water flowing through them, a depth of 

 at least eight or ten feet, a sandy or hard bottom, and banks covered with 

 water-plants. Under these favourable conditions its growth is as rapid as 

 that of the Pike, and in a few years it will attain a weight of twenty 

 pounds. Its voracity can only be satisfied by a large supply of small fishes. 

 It needs more than ordinary care in confinement, for though easily captured 

 in June, it is not often successfully transferred to other waters. 



Its gills are sometimes affected with disease, becoming covered with 

 small bladders of gelatinous fluid, in which state the flesh is regarded as 

 unwholesome. 



