ESOCIDiE OE PIKES. 301 



these are commonly the gasterostei, or sticklebacks, who, 

 observing the gaping foe advance against them, prepare 

 for the encounter by bristling up their spines in instinc- 

 tive readiness to stick in his throat, instead, as he sup- 

 poses, of going smoothly down into his stomach. This 

 induces a dreadful choking disease, which we venture to 

 call sticklebackitisj by means whereof many a prpmis- 

 ing young jack is cut off 'in cunabulis.'* The old fish 

 have as strong a predilection for certain provisions as a 

 dislike to others. Amongst a great variety of bonnes 

 bouches the following are ascertained to be to their taste 

 — a swanks head and neck, a mule's nether lip, a Polish 

 damsel's foot, a gentleman's (probably however no ob- 

 jection would be made to a lady's) hand ; plump puppies 

 just opening their eyes, and tender kittens of an age to 

 pay the penalty attaching to a mother's indiscretion ; 

 besides every kind of fish, with the few exceptions just 

 noticed. 



As regards its culinary merits, no fish perhaps ever 

 met, at different times and places, -with a greater diver- 

 sity of opinion than this : that of Ausonius, as we have 

 seen, is strongly against it ; and in his part of France, to 

 this day brochets are considered unsavoury and plebeian : 

 whilst at Chalons-sur-Saone, on the other hand, they 

 are in high repute : in Italy pike are rarely eaten, and 

 the Spaniards are said to reject them entirely : proceed- 

 ing northward, their reputation rises ; those from some 

 of the German lakes are much esteemed, and others in 

 our own country. too (where this fish was once a great 

 favourite) are held still, when taken out of clean waters. 



* On the symptoms and post-mortem appearances of stickle- 

 backitis, which, present some interesting analogies with those of 

 oesophagitis, laryngitis, and croup, we reserve what may be said 

 tOl we publish our Nosology of Fish, and are content here merely 

 to invite attention of pathologists to the subject. 



