41 



BLEAK, Class IV. 



There are various conje6iures about this fpecies, 

 but all terminate in a fuppcfition that they are the 

 fry of feme fifh, but few agree to which kind they 

 owe their origin. Some attribute it to the (had^ 

 others to the fprat^ the fmelt, and the bleak. That 

 they neither belong to the fhad, nor the fprat, is 

 evident from the number of branchioflegous rays, 

 which in thofe are eight, in this only three. That 

 they are not the young oi Imelts is as clear, be- 

 caufe they want the pinna adipofii^- or raylefs fin 5 

 and that they are not the offspring of the bleak 

 is extremely probable, fince we never heard of the 

 white bait being found in any other river, not- 

 withftanding the bleak is very common in feveral 

 of the 5;7/{/7j ilreams : but as the white bait bears a 

 greater fimilarity to this fifn than to any other we 

 have mentioned, we give it a place here as an ap- 

 pendage to the bleak, rather than form a diftincfc 

 article of a fifh which it is impoffible to clafs with 

 certainty. 



It is evident that it is of the carp or Cyprinus 

 genus : it has only three branchioflegous rays, and 

 only one dorfai fin ; and in refpecl to the form of 

 the body is comprelTed like that of the bleak. 



Its ufual length is two inches: the under jaw is 

 the longed : the irides filvery, the pupil black : the 

 dorfai fin is placed nearer to the head than to the 

 ta-il, and confifts of about fourteen rays : the Ude 

 line \% ftrait : the tail forked, the tips black. 



The 



