PIKES. 



249 



The Roaches (Leuciscus) form several species. The Common Roach 

 (Leuciscus vitlgaris) attains seven or eight inches in length, and is remark- 

 able for its brilliant scales, which are easily detached. The iridescent sub- 

 stance which gives them this metallic appearance is employed abroad for the 

 manufacture of false pearls. 



The Pikes (Esox) are recognized by their oblong, obtuse, broad, 

 depressed muzzle ; they have but one dorsal fin, which is placed 

 opposite to the anal, and nearly the whole interior of the mouth 

 is full of teeth as well as the jaws. 



FIG. 262. THE PIKE. 



The Common Pike (Esoxlucius) is met with in the fresh waters of Europe and 

 North America, and is everywhere caught for its flesh, which is wholesome and easy 

 of digestion. It is the most voracious and destructive of all fresh-water fishes; it de- 

 vours with avidity frogs, young ducks, and all the fishes that come in its way. It often 

 seizes animals larger than itself, and its presence in a pond is sometimes enough to de- 

 populate it in a very short time. Pikes four or five feet long are not rare in the great 

 lakes of Northern Europe, and one of still larger size has been seen. In 1497, a pike 

 was caught at Kaiserlauten, near Mannheim, which was nearly nineteen feet in length, 



FIG. 263. THE GAR-FISH. 



and weighed three hundred and fifty pounds. This monster was as remarkable for its 

 great age as for its size, for there was found upon it a gilt copper ring, bearing this 

 inscription "I was the first fish that was thrown into this pond by the hands of 



