SS"? THE ELEAi^« 



but in aT>out two hours they veeover and difappear. Wher! 

 thus afFeded, the fifliermen on the 'Thames call them mad 

 bleaks. Pe7mant imagines, that t|iey are then troubled 

 with a fpecies of hair worm, which Arijlotlc obferved to 

 infcfl fome other kinds of flfh *. 



It is of the fiivery fcaies of this fpecies of fifh, that 

 artificial pearls are made ; an art which owes its origin 

 to the 'French^ and is by them carried o\\ to fuch an ex- 

 tent, that one artiil in Paris u.fed thiny hampers of filh 

 in this manafifture, during the fpace of a iingle winter. 

 The fcaies are beat down into a fine powder, tnen diluted 

 with water, and introduced into a thin glafs bubble, which 

 is afterwards filled with wax. 



The minnow is a beautiful fmall filh, about three inches 

 in length, and fcarcely half the fize of the bleak ; it fre- 

 quents moft of our pure gravelly flreams, and is always 

 gregarious. It has no teeth ; and the fcaies are fo fmall, 

 that they are almoft invifible. The back is a dark olive 

 colour; each fide beautifully adorned with a lateral line 

 of bright gold. The colour of the fides and belly varies ; 

 in fome it is white, and in others yellow ; in fome it is 

 ©f a rich crimfon. Taking the minnow is one of the fa- 

 vourite, and perhaps moil innocent amufemcnts of chil- 

 dren. This firtl effay at angling is performed with a 

 bended pin, baited with a fmall earth worm. 



During the month of June, there appears in the 

 Thcwies^ near Blachwall and Grecmvich, a filh evidently 

 of this genus, called the white bait. No naturalill has 

 yet determined to what particular fifh it belongs, thougli 

 all are agreed, that it is the young of fome fpecies that 

 reforts there. Some have afcribed its origin to the fliad ; 

 others to the fprat, the fmelt, and the bleak, Thefe fifli, 



howeverj 



* Brit. Zool. Species lj6. 



