184 THE a:^glee-natuealist. 



been assigned by authors for the introduction of the Pike 

 furnish another argument in favour of the view advocated ; 

 and as we find mention of the taking of the fish in England 

 as early as the reign of Edgar *, and considering also that 

 it is difliised throughout the length and breadth of the 

 British Islands, and is apparently indigenous in aU climates 

 which are not tropical, there appears to be every reason 

 for concluding that it was an aboriginal, and not an in- 

 troduced, inhabitant of our waters. 



It would seem, indeed, that a chilly or even frigid lati- 

 tude is essential to the well-being of the Pike. Thus in 

 Norway and Sweden, Siberia, and the lakes of Canada 

 and Lapland it reaches its full development, breeding in 

 vast numbers, and commonly attaining the length of 4 or 

 5 feet, whilst it rapidly degenerates on approaching warmer 

 latitudes — diminishing in geographical distribution with 

 the spruce fir, and ceasing entirely in the neighbourhood 

 pf the Equator. 



For the numerous names by which the Pike is known, 

 various derivations have at different times been suggested, 

 having all more or less aptness. Of these, however, the 

 common term ' Pike,' or ' Pickerel,' is probably the only 

 one derived from our own language; and this would ap- 

 pear to have originated in the Saxon word piik, signifying 

 ' sharp-pointed,' in reference doubtless to the peculiar form 



* Leland states that a Pilie of great size was taken in Eamesmere 

 HuntingdonsMre, in this reign. 



