THE LOACH. 211 



Description Where found. 



and has no teeth : it is bearded like the gudgeon 

 and the barbel, having on the upper mandible 

 six small beards, one at each corner of the mouth, 

 and four at the end of the nose. The color of 

 the head, back, and sides, is in some white, in 

 others of a dirty yellow, very elegantly marked 

 with large spots, consisting of numberless minute 

 black specks : the pectoral, dorsal, and caudal 

 fins are also spotted, the belly and ventral fins of 

 a pure white, the tail broad and rather rounded. 

 The eyes are in the upper part of the head ; the 

 gill-covering membrane has from four to five 

 rays ; and the body, which is smooth and slip- 

 pery, is nearly of an equal thickness through- 

 out. 



The loach is found in several of our small 

 rivers, keeping at the bottom on the gravel, upon 

 which it feeds, and on that account is in some 

 places called the groundling. It is frequent in 

 the stream near Amersbury in Wiltshire, where 

 the sportsmen, through frolic, swallow it down 

 alive in a glass of white wine. The flesh is sin- 

 gularly nutritious, and from that circumstance, 

 and from its being grateful to the palate, it is 

 recommended to the sick. One of the largest 

 ever heard of by Mr. Pennant was four inches 

 and three-quarters in length, but they seldom ex- 

 ceed three inches. The females are generally 

 full of spawn during the summer. This fish, 

 (which is used as a bait for others, particularly 

 2 D ii 



