Description of BaWs Dredge. 1847 



Pike. — " It is frequently said that putting pike into a lake would destroy the trout- 

 fishing ; but I have invariably found that in all the lakes of a considerable size, where 

 the pike were plenty, the trout have improved very much in size and quality, and not 

 diminished in numbers to any great extent." — Wild Sports of the Highlands. 



Lamprey. — " One summer day I was amused by watching the singular proceedings 

 of two lampreys in a small ditch of clear running water near my house. They were 

 about six inches in length and as round as a pencil. The two little creatures were 

 most busily employed in making little triangular heaps of stones, using for the purpose 

 irregularly shaped bits of gravel about the size of a large pea. When they wished to 

 move a larger stone, they helped each other in endeavouring to roll it into the desired 

 situation : occasionally they both left off their labours and appeared to rest for a short 

 time, and then to return to the work with fresh vigour. The object of their building 

 I am not sufficiently learned in the natural history of the lamprey to divine ; but I 

 conclude that their work had something to do with the placing of their spawn. It 

 seems, however, so singular a manoeuvre on the part of fish to build up regular little 

 pyramids of gravel, bringing some of the stones from the distance of two feet against 

 the current and rolling them to the place with evident difficulty, that the lampreys 

 must have some good reason which induces them to take this trouble. It is a great 

 pity that the habits of fish and animals living in water are so difficult to observe with 

 any degree of accuracy." — Id. 



Enormous Trout. — On Monday last a trout was taken with the rod and line in the 

 river Wye, near this city, of the following measurement : — Length from end of snout 

 to end of tail, 22£ inches ; largest girth, behind pectoral fin, 13^ inches ; male fish ; 

 weight when first caught 5ifbs, The fish was in fine season, and was displayed for 

 sale at Mrs. White's, Widemarsh-street. — Hereford Journal, June 9th, 1847. 





Description of Ball's Dredge. 



The * Zoologist ' presents but a scanty list of papers on Marine Zoology, but 

 every year this branch of science assumes an increased importance, ever since the 

 dredging researches of Professor Edward Forbes in the iEgean Sea were given to the 

 world, and with respect to the Mollusca, their claim to the title of the " Medals of 

 Creation," as given them by Bergman, is more firmly established, by enabling us bet- 

 ter to understand the circumstances under which the stratified rocks have been origi- 

 nally deposited. And independently of this, no naturalist can read the interesting 

 \ Lectures on Zoology ' of Professor R. Jones, or the excellent little work entitled 

 * Introduction to Zoology for the use of Schools, part 1st. Invertebrate Animals,' by 

 R. Paterson, Esq., without feeling anxious to form some practical acquaintance with 

 the subjects of so much pleasant discourse. All fishermen are at first with difficulty 

 induced to preserve the rejectamenta of their traps, lines, nets, and dredges. Littoral 

 rambles on a productive coast are very instructive, but the dredge is the principal 

 source of our knowledge of the marine Invertebrata ; this implement, however, is only 

 used where there are oyster banks : it is cumbrous in form, and expensive in its ma- 

 nagement, requiring a large boat, and a stout crew ; however, Robert Ball, Esq., of 

 Dublin, invented a dredge which is so light and portable, and withal so efficient, that 



