s6o STUDIES IN INSECT LIFE, ETC. 



scorpion he must only have known by hearsay, 

 but of the louse and the mite he evidently had 

 first-hand knowledge. 



Shakespeare knew fish from two aspects, as a 

 sportsman and as a consumer. The carp in his 

 day, as still in Central Europe, was an important 

 article of food, and fishponds were a source of 

 wealth. He naturally knew more of fresh-water 

 fishes than of salt. Dace he knew as bait for 

 pike. Eels, one regrets to learn, were put " i' 

 the paste alive " (" King Lear," II. iv. 124). He 

 speaks of " this fool-gudgeon " and emphasises 

 the traditional fecundity of the loach. Tench, 

 trout, and salmon are all mentioned. The last- 

 named, at times fresh-water, at other times 

 marine, affords a transition to sea-fishes. In 

 Elizabethan times there were no swift " carriers/ 1 

 no cold-storage, and the marine fishes consumed 

 inland were such as could be " cured." The 

 sprat, the pilchard, the stock-fish (salted cod), 

 and above all the herring were evidently all 

 common food. The great abundance of salted 

 and cured fish was the direct consequence of the 

 wholesome custom of " fasting " then enforced by 

 the Church. In those times, as still in Russia and 

 Scandinavia, pickled fish was a favourite relish. 



