The Barbel. 27 



" The fin rays in number are 



D. 19, P. 14, V. 10, A. 17, C. 19. 



" Head depressed, large, oblong, blunt ; jaws, palatine bones, and 

 vomer furnished with teeth of various sizes ; body elongated, rounded 

 on the back ; sides compressed, covered with scales ; dorsal fin placed 

 very far back over the anal fin." YARRELL, vol. i. p. 383. 



VII. 



THE BAKBEL. 

 (Called MULLUS BARBATUS by the Romans.} 



PLATE xi. 3. 



i HE Barbel is so called on account of the barbs 

 or beard under his nose or chops, and is a 

 leather-mouthed and gregarious fish. He has 

 great strength, and though he seldom breaks 

 his hold, yet he not unfrequently snaps either rod or line, 

 or both. It is necessary, then, in angling for him, to use 

 the strongest tackle. The male is considered much better 

 than the female, but neither of them are much esteemed. 

 They swim in shoals, and are at the worst in April and 

 May, at which time they spawn, but soon com'e into sea- 

 son again. The spawn, if eaten, acts as a cathartic and 

 emetic, and the liver is likewise unwholesome. The 

 places to which they chiefly resort are weedy, gravelly, 

 rising grounds, in which this fish is said to dig, and rout 

 with his nose like the swine. In the summer he fre- 

 quents the strongest and swiftest currents of water, under 

 bridges, weirs, &c. among the piles, &c. In autumn he 

 retires to the deeps, where he remains till spring. The 

 best baits for him are lob-worms, gentils, &c. and the 

 earlier you fish for him in June, July, and August, the 



