THE PIKE FAMILY. 195 



but that in the open waters at least in England it 

 seldom averages more than 1 Ib. a year during the first 

 two years, and from 1| to 2 Ibs. a year afterwards, de- 

 creasing again after eight or nine years to about the 

 original ratio. This average is not very different from 

 that given by Bloch as the result of his observation. It 

 cannot, of course, be taken as any index of what may be 

 done by keeping Pike in rich preserves, or fattening them 

 in stews, as the capacity of the Pike for food is well nigh 

 inexhaustible, and is in analogy with its powers of diges- 

 tion, the marvellous rapidity of which has been aptly de- 

 scribed as resembling the action of fire. 



To procure positive data, however, upon this point must 

 clearly be a matter of great difficulty. From frequent 

 opportunities of witnessing the feeding and management 

 of Pike in stews, I should say that a fish of 5 or 6 Ibs. 

 would eat, if permitted, at least twice its own weight of 

 fish every week*; whilst, on the other hand, it can be 

 almost starved for a very considerable period without suf- 

 fering perceptibly; and in one instance already alluded 

 to, namely that of the Pike in the Zoological Gardens, the 



* As an instance of this, it is mentioned that eight Pike, of 

 about 5 Ibs. each, consumed nearly 800 Gudgeons in three weeks, 

 and that the appetite of one of them was almost insatiable. There is 

 no doubt, however, that this dietary is far below the limit which 

 might be reached. Mr. Stoddart, in his ' Angler's Companion ' (p. 298), 

 makes a curious calculation of the ravages committed by Pike in the 

 Teviot, and also states that in some lochs in Scotland the fish has 

 been known to eat its own weight of baits every day. 



K2 



