Clafs IV. Xk, Ej My Gr Fy 309 
Whatever virtue its flime may have to the inha- 
bitants of the water, we will not vouch for, but its 
- fleth is a wholefome and delicious food to thofe of the 
earth. | 
It does not commonly exceed four or five pounds 
in weight, but we have heard of one that weighed 
ten pounds; Salvianus fpeaks of fome that arrived 
at twenty pounds. 
They love ftill waters, and are rarely found in ri- 
vers: they are very foolifh, and eafily caught. 
The tench is thick and fhort in proportion to its Defer, 
length: the fcales are very fmall, and covered with 
flime. 
The irides are red: there is fometimes, but not 
always, a finall beard at each corner of the mouth. 
The color of the back is dufky; the dorfal and 
ventral fins of the fame color: the head, fides, and 
belly, of a greenifh caft, moft beautifully mixed with 
gold, which is in its greateft fplendor when the fith is 
in the higheft feafon. 
The tail is quite even at the end, and very Tce 
iV. The 
