2 TO 
NATURAL HISTORY 
about the year 1514, in which county perhaps this fish 
abounds, more than in any other. 
Carp from their quick growth and vast increase, are 
the most valuable of all fish for the stocking of ponds) 
and if the breeding and feeding j©f them were better un- 
derstood, and more practised, the advantages resulting 
from them would be very great. These fish spawn in 
June, and sometimes in May, when it is a forward 
spring, seeking places covered with grass or plants, for 
depositing their eggs. They feed principally on mud 
worms, and aquatic insects. 
Bream. ( Cyp . PI. 47.) The bream has a blunt 
snout, the upper jaw a little protubed; the front is dark 
blue, the cheeks inclining to yellow. The fish, when at 
its full growth, is broad and thick) the young ones on 
the contrary, are narrow and long. They are covered 
with pretty large scales, the back is blackish, sharp, and 
resembles a bow on the stretch. The lateral line is 
curved towarsd the belly, and ornamented with about 
fifty black spots. The tail is a little forked, and of a 
dark blue colour. 
This fish is an article of great importance on the Con- 
tinent. It is found in all the great lakes, and in rivers 
which have a gentle current, and a bottom composed of 
marl, clay, and herbage. It is taken mostly under the 
ice) and this fishery is so considerable, that in some of 
the lakes beloning to Prussia, there have been taken to 
the value of two hundred pounds at a time) they are 
also caught in great quantities in Holstein, Mechlenburg, 
Livonia, and Sweden: in a lake near Norkiasping, there 
%vere taken at one time in March, 1749, no less than 
fifty thousand, weighing eighteen thousand two hundred 
pounds. 
The bream may be taken with divers kinds of nets in 
spawning-time: and, being fond of worms, will readily 
take a bait. 
Roach. ( Cyp . Pl. 47.) This fish belongs also to 
the cyprinus order, and is remarkable for its numerous 
progeny. It is deep, yet thinly made) in shape nearly re- 
sembling the bream, but approaching to the carp by the 
