252 NOTES ON PISH AND FISHINIi. 



experiments being made in order to settle the point. I am 

 inclined to think the " touch of tenches " a myth. How- 

 ever, we may take it as a fact that the omnivorous pike 

 refuses under all circumstances to take tench as food. To 

 this bear witness almost all practical anglers and writers 

 on angling, though one makes bold to say that the simple 

 reason why pike do not eat tench is because they cannot 

 catch them, owing to their always keeping at the bottom 

 of the water. This, however, is not the case ; for they 

 often swim in mid- water, and in ponds, especially during 

 hot weather, delight, like carp, to lie close on the top of 

 the water, basking in the sunshine. Whether pike, out 

 of gratitude to their physicians, or simply as a matter of 

 taste, decline tench for their larder, must still, I fear, 

 remain an open question, however interesting the solution 

 of it might be. 



By the way, I have not yet indulged my etymological 

 propensities in reference to our tench; simply for the 

 reason that I have never seen suggested, nor can I my- 

 self suggest, a derivation for the word " tench," which of 

 course is only another form of the Latin tinea, and is 

 found variously spelt in other European languages. In 

 Holland the tench has the sobriquet of " shoemaker," in 

 consequence of the thickness of his skin. So enough on 

 this point. 



Several Continental families bear the tench heraldically, 

 and among ourselves the family of Tench. 



And now a few words about angling for carp and 

 tench. They are the commonest of our pond fish, hardly 

 a piece of water of any size being without them, or at least 

 without one or the other. In the neighbourhood of London, 

 such reservoirs as the " Welsh Harp " and Elstree are 



