mm 



NOTE YII. 



THE JACK. 

 (Esox Lucius.) 



" Go on, my Muse, next let thy numbers speak 

 That mighty Nimrod of the streams, the Pike.'' 



The Innocent Epicure (1697). 



" And Pikes, the tyrants of the watery plains." — Pope. 



" The Pike, or lucit, is a mercenary ; 

 Or anglers seem among themselves to vary ; 

 He loves no streams, but hugs the silent deeps, 

 And eats all hours, and yet no house he keeps.'' 



Theophilus Prance. 



Esox Lucius, the British " Pike " or " Jack/' is a 

 typical representative of the Esocidce family, and is the 

 only member of it which comes within the scope of these 

 Notes. Esox lucius — a " fish of character," and one too 

 the very look and sound of whose classical name is sug- 

 gestive of voracity and ferocity. 



If you look out " Pike " in a dictionary or in a " Natural 

 History of Pishes," you will find some such technical 

 description as this : — " Pike (Esox lucius), so called from 

 the shape of his head and jaws ; head depressed, large. 



