234 THE ANGLER-NATURALIST. 



with that of the Barbel, in ancient Pharmacopoeias. It 

 was prescribed as an emetic, but its effects are stated to 

 have been most deleterious ; and an enthusiastic physician, 

 Antonio Gazius, who tried conclusions on his own person 

 with two small boluses, was nearly killed by the dose, and 

 has recorded his sensations as a caveat to all future expe- 

 rimentalists. 



The haunts of Pike vary considerably at different times 

 of the year, and also vary with the nature of particular 

 waters; but it usually prefers a still, unfrequented spot 

 plentifully supplied with weeds and flags, selecting if pos- 

 sible a gravelly or sandy bottom. The neighbourhoods 

 of reeds, docks, bulrushes, and the broad-leaved water- 

 lily are its favourite resorts; and of these, a flooring of 

 lilies, with from four to six feet of quiet current over it, 

 and a wall of reeds at the side, springing from the bottom, 

 is the best — 



" A league of grass wasted by a slow broad stream 

 That, stirr'd with languid pulses of the oar, 

 Waves all its lazy lilies and creeps on. . . ." 



Indeed, it may be said that the reed and the lily are to 

 the Pike what the hoUybush is to the woodcock. In 

 lochs and meres, it commonly frequents the most shoal 

 and weedy parts, small inlets and little bays, or the 

 mouths of streams where minnows or other fry congre- 

 gate; and in rivers, back-waters and dam-heads, eddies 

 between two streams, or in fact any water that is weedv. 



