THE CARP FAMILY. 



123 



As will be gathered from the anecdote above related, 

 the Barbel is exceedingly strong and makes a powerful 

 fight, showing as much sport as almost any fish of the 

 same size, except perhaps the Salmon-Trout. It is, how- 

 ever, in small esteem for the table, at which it very seldom 

 makes its appearance. A strong jelly may be extracted 

 from the flesh by boiling it down; but whether this is 

 wholesome as an edible I am unable to say. 



It has been remarked that many species of the Carp 

 family have the power of emitting a guttural sound under 

 water, although the mechanism by which this is effected is 

 not understood no air -bubble escaping from the mouth of 

 the fish at the time. Amongst the species producing these 

 sounds the Barbel is particularly noted f. 



* See p. 59. 



t Valenciennes, Histoire des Poissons, xvi. 14. 



