THE MINNOW — THE STICKLEBACK. 343 



quently striking the mass with its pectoral fins, as if to 

 ascertain whether it has acquired the necessary consis- 

 tency. Have I not now written enough to justify the 

 assertion that the stickleback is a most interesting little 

 fish ? And may it not be truly said of them what Virgil 

 in the Georgics says of the bees, — 



" Et magnos animos in parvo corpora versant " ? 

 (i.e. " They have big souls in little bodies.") 



If you want to capture any for an aquarium, a scrap 

 of worm attached to a piece of thread, without a hook, 

 will answer the purpose. They try to swallow it " holus- 

 bolus," and cling to it firmly when drawn out of the water. 

 If for want of minnows you use them as bait for perch, 

 be sure you cut off their prickles. The perch seem to 

 know that they are protected from the jack by their 

 spinous fin, and consequently are themselves more than 

 shy of the prickly little sticklebacks. 



