THE PIKE. 177 



Its remarkable longevity, 



Marvellous accounts of the fierceness of this 

 fish is related by various authors. Gessner says, 

 that a famished pike in the Rhone seized on the 

 lips of a mule, and, was, in consequence, dragged 

 out of the water; and that people, while washing 

 their legs, had often been bitten by these vora- 

 cious creatures. 



The largest pike that is supposed to have been 

 ever seen in this country, was one caught on the 

 draining of a pool at Lillishall lime-works, near 

 Newport, that had not been fished in the memory 

 of man: it weighed above 170 pounds. 



If the accounts of different writers on the sub- 

 ject are to be credited, ihe longevity of the pike 

 is very remarkable. Gessner goes so far as to 

 mention a pike whose age was ascertained to be 

 267 years. It was said to be caught in Suabia, 

 in the year 1523; it was extremely large, and 

 had a Very aged appearance. On examining it, 

 they found a brass ring in one of his nostrils, on 

 which was read a Latin inscription, the purport 

 of which was, " The emperor, Frederic II. has 

 thrown me into his pond with his own hands, the 

 5th of October, 12() r 2. From hence they con- 

 cluded, that this pike had inhabited that pond 

 for above 260 years. The eggs of this fish are 

 highly unwholesome, and even dangerous; but 

 their fat, liver, gall, and jaw-bones pulverised, 

 are useful in physic. 



The pike has been poetically styled the tyrant 



VOL. v. NO. 34. z 



