'j44 IIISTOUY OF 



49. The Amia or Bonito. The body round uiid slender; the 

 head, forehead, and breast, without skin ; tlie tin covering the 

 gills with twelve rays ; two beards from the nose. 



50. The Mormyrus. The body oblong ; the head elongated ; 

 the fin covering the gills with a single ray ; the opening to the 

 gills is linear, and has no bone covering them. 



Such is the system of Mr Gouan ; by reducing to which any 

 fish that offers, we can know its rank, its affinities, and partly its 

 anatomy, all which make a considerable part in its natural his- 

 tory. But to show the use of this system still more apparently, 

 suppose I meet with a fish, the name to me unknown, of which 

 I desire to know something more. The way is first to see 



found, except perliaps a few eels; but, greatly to the surprise of the per. 

 sons employed, nearly two hundred brace of tencli, and iis many perch, were 

 discovered. After the pond was supposed to be quite cleared, an animal 

 was observed to be under some roots, which was conjectured to be an otter. 

 The place was surrounded ; and on making an opening, a tench was foutid 

 of a most singular form, having literally taken the shape of the hole in 

 which he had of course been many years confined. His length was four 

 feet nine inches, Ids circumference two feet three inches, and his \\'eight 

 near twelve pounds. The colour was also singular, his belly being tinged 

 with vermilion like that of a char. This extraordinary animal, after having 

 been examined by many gentlemen, was carefully put into a pond. At first 

 it merely floated, and after a while it swam gently away. When Mr Daniel 

 produced his " Rural Sports" it was alive and well. 



The Chub. — This fish, whicli is called cheven, isab, or, botling, very much 

 resembles the carp, but is of a longer form. The body is oblong, rather 

 round, and is of an equal thickness in the greater part of the slope ; the 

 scales are large ; the irides silvery ; the cheeks of the sauie colour ; the head 

 and back of a deep dusky green ; the sides silvery, but in the summer yel- 

 low ; the belly white ; tlie pectoral fins of a pale yellow ; the ventral and 

 anal fins red ; and the tail forked, of a brownish hue, but tinged 

 with blue at the end. It is altogether a handsome fish, but in no es- 

 teem for the tabic, being very coarse, and when out of season full of small 

 hairy bones : the roe however is very good ; and this fish stewed as carp 

 will, it is said, deceive a connoisseur. Its name is derived from the shape 

 of the head, cop being an old English word for head ; and the French and 

 Italians know it by a name synonymous with ours. The haunts of these 

 fish are rivers whose bottoms are of sand or clay, or which are bounded by 

 clayey banks, in deep holes, under hollow banks, shaded by trees or weeds. 

 They are also found in the Esk, a river noted for the crystalline clearness 

 of its waters, flowing over a rocky bottom. These fish often float on the sur- 

 face, and are sometimes found in deep waters, where the currents are 

 strong. In ponds fed by a rivulet they grow to a large size. They seldom, 

 however, exceed the weight of four or five pounds, though Salvianus speaks 

 of them as increasing to eight or nine. They deposit their spawn in April ; 

 sud are in great perfection during the months of Dec:'mber and .Innnary, 



