Fishes. 4259 



foundation of a more widely extended Comparative Pathology, and 

 of a clearer knowledge of the phenomena of life and disease. 



W. E. C. Nourse. 

 8, Burwood Place, Hyde Park, 

 January 30, 1854. 



Variety of Fishes exposed for Sale on the Continent. — Mr. Sclater's list of birds 

 exposed for sale in the market at Home, in January, 1853, recorded in your last num- 

 ber (Zool. 4160), brought to my mind the variety of fish I observed in the markets of 

 Liege and Heidelberg, from the rivers Meuse and Neckar, during a tour through Bel- 

 gium, France, and Germany, in August and September last. Our neighbours prize 

 fresh-water fish much more highly than we do ; and even the barbel, which is 

 usually considered here as almost worthless, is held in much estimation by them. The 

 fountains, in the fish-markets at Liege, have small tanks into which fresh water con- 

 stantly flows, by which means the fish are kept alive for many days. In these tanks 

 I observed barbel (Cyprinus barbus) in great numbers, from the weight of a few 

 ounces to that of several pounds ; chub (C. cephalus), some of a large size ; roach 

 (C.rutilus), dace (C.leuciscus), carp (C. Carpio), tench (C. Tinea), bream (C. Brama), 

 gudgeon (C. Gobio), pike (Esox Lucius) of all sizes, and eels : salmon and trout 

 seemed scarce, as I only observed them on one or two occasions. Another fish which 

 was very abundant puzzled me not a little: at first I took it for the C. dobula, the 

 dobula roach, figured in ' Yarrell's Fishes,' vol. i. p. 346, which is common in many of 

 the German rivers; and it was not until my return home that I ascertained this fish 

 to be the Cyprinus Vimba, figured in Bloch's ' German Fishes,' ed. 1787, vol. i., and 

 called " Weiss fische,'' the name now given it in the market at Heidelberg, where it was 

 quite as abundant as at Liege : this fish is of little worth for the table, being bony and 

 insipid. I cannot find that it has ever been met with in any of our rivers ; it is about 

 the size of the roach, which in many respects it resembles, but it differs in the anal 

 fin being larger, and the upper jaw extending over the lower, therebv making the 

 mouth something like that of the barbel ; if introduced into our rivers, which it readily 

 might be, it would add much to the sport of the roach anglers. Travellers, when at 

 Heidelberg, generally visit the Wolf's Brunnen, a pretty place, a short distance from 

 the town, partly for the beauty of the scenery, and also to see the trout in the preserves 

 there, some of which weigh four and five pounds a-piece, and are much esteemed for 

 their fine flavour, and sell for half-a-crown a pound. They were fed while we were 

 there, and it was interesting to see the avidity with which they seized a roach or dace, 

 even before reaching the water. When served, as they frequently are, at the table 

 d'hote dinners, from their blue appearance, arising from the practice of boiling them 

 in vinegar and water, some persons refuse to partake of them ; but when the firm 

 flesh and delicious flavour have once been experienced, they are seldom again guilty of 

 the like enormity. — R. Wakefield; Sussex Place. 



Note on the Lampern, or River Lamprey (Petromyzon fluviatilis). — Mr. Yarrell 

 observes in his ' British Fishes,' vol. ii. p. 455, 1st. ed., that the spawning-season of this 

 fish is May. About the middle of April of last year (1853), large colonies of its young- 

 were to be seen in the Burn of Blackton, parish of King Edward, Aberdeenshire; 



