334 THE SLY SILURUS. 



THE last of the three is the ROACH, a fish especially dear to scientific anglers, on 

 account of its capricious habits, and the delicate skill required to form a successful 

 Roach-fisher. 



An angler accomplished in this art will catch Roach where no one without special 

 experience would have a chance of a bite, and will succeed in his beloved sport through 

 almost every season of the year, the winter months being the favorites. So capricious 

 are these fish, and so sensitive to the least change of weather, that a single hour will 

 suffice to put them off their feed, and the angler may be suddenly checked in the midst 

 of his sport by an adverse breeze or. change in the temperature. 



The Roach is a gregarious fish, swimming in shoals, and keeping tolerably close to 

 each other. It is not a large species, all over a pound being considered as fine speci- 

 mens, and any that weigh more than two pounds are thought rare. It is a pretty fish, 

 the upper parts of the head and body being grayish green glossed with blue, the abdo- 

 men silvery white, and the sides passing gradually into white from the darker colors 

 of the back. The pectoral, ventral, and anal fins are bright red, the former having a 

 tinge of yellow, and the dorsal and tail fins are brownish red. 



5LY SILURUS. Sllurus glaals. 



CLOSELY allied to the roach is the DACE (Leuciscus -vulgaris), a common and small 

 species that inhabits most of our streams. The well-known CHUB (Leuciscus cephalus) 

 also belongs to this genus, as does the BLEAK {Leuciscus alburnus\ in many counties 

 called the TAILOR BLAY by the ignorant, from the idea that whenever any other fish, 

 especially the pike, wounds its skin, it immediately seeks the aid of the Bleak, which, 

 by rubbing its body against the wound, causes the torn skin to close. The beautifully 

 white crystalline deposit beneath the scales was much used in the manufacture of 

 artificial pearls, hollow glass beads being washed in the interior with a thin layer of 

 this substance, and then filled with white wax. The scales of the whitebait were 

 also used for the same purpose. The MINNOW (Leuciscus phoxinus} is another member 

 of this large genus, and is too well known to need description. 



WE now come to another family, selecting as an example a tolerably well-known 

 species. The SLY SILURUS, sometimes called the SHEAT-FISH, is found in many rivers 

 in different parts of the world. 



