THE PIKE FAMILY. 205 



the alert without being attacked, though the former seemed 

 to have all their eyes about them and to keep close in 

 shore." 



Rats which have once been gripped by a Pike rarely 

 appear to recover. They may not unfrequently be found 

 dead in the weeds, bearing evident marks of the fish's 

 teeth; and one very large brown rat which I thus found 

 had the head and fore part of the body crushed almost flat 

 by the pressure to which it had been subjected. The 

 marvel, however, is, not that these animals should often 

 die of their injuries, but that they should ever succeed in 

 escaping from the triple chevaux de /rise with which the 

 jaws of the Pike are armed. An anecdote, taken from 

 Mr. Buckland's charming collection of ' Curiosities of 

 Natural History/ illustrates the formidable nature of these 

 teeth, even when at rest. 



" When at Oxford," he says, ' ' I had in my rooms the 

 dried head of a very large Pike, captured in Holland. It 

 was kept underneath a book-case. One evening, whilst 

 reading, I was much surprised, and rather alarmed, to see 

 this monstrous head roll out spontaneously from below 

 its resting-place and tumble along the floor ; at the same 

 time piteous cries of distress issuing from it. The head 

 must be bewitched, thought I; but I must find out the 

 cause. Accordingly I took it up, when, lo and behold ! 

 inside was a poor little tame guinea-pig, which was a pet 

 and allowed to run, with two companions, about the room. 

 With unsuspecting curiosity master guinea-pig had crept 



