302 PEOSE HAIilEUTICS. 



quite a treat* During the reign of Edward the First 

 [i. e. towards the close of the thirteenth century) jack 

 was so dear that few could afford to eat itj the pricCj 

 says Mr. Yarrell, was double that of salmoUj and ten 

 times higher than either turbot or cod. ' In 1466, pike 

 was one of the chief dishes ia the high church festival 

 given by George Neville^ Archbishop of York. In Henry 

 the Eighth's time these watery tyrants fetched as much 

 again as house-lamb in February, and a very small pick- 

 erel would sell higher than a fat capon.' In spite of 

 the general wholesomeness of the fish, its roe has been 

 said by some authorities to be deleterious, inducing (like 

 that of the barbel) hyjpercatharsis and vomiting ; but as 

 pike are known to be (pavXoi KvovTe<;, out of condition 

 when spawning (as Aristotle indeed erroneously reports 

 to be the case with most fish), gravid specimens are, we 

 believe, very rarely put to the test at table. On the 

 breeding of pike, Walton informs us that it occurs once 

 a year, in the following manner : — ' A he and a she 

 usually go together .out of a river into some ditch or 

 creek, and then the spawner casts her eggs, and the mil- 

 ter hovers over her all the time she is casting her spawn, 

 but touches her not.' The spawning §eason occupies 

 from two to three months ; the young pikesses of three 

 years taking the lead, and when they have been all safely 

 delivered, the dowagers, or frog pikes (so called from 

 their period of spawning being late, with the frogs), suc- 

 ceed them. 



Belone. 

 Besides the familiarly known European pike, there are 



* Those caught in the Norfolk Broads are the best we know, 

 whilst the smelt-fatted pike of the Medway are good to a proverb. 

 t Athenffius. 



