64 ACANTHOPTERYGII. PERCAD^. 
of five or six pounds in weight, are abundant in 
the lakes and rivers of Sweden, and afford good 
angling. The head of a Perch is said to be pre- j 
served in the church of Luehlah, in Lapland, { 
which measures nearly twelve inches from the 
point of the nose to the end of the gill-cover, 
which, according to the proportion of parts in 
ordinary specimens, would give the enormous total 
length of four feet for this Fish. It is possible, 
however, that this may be the head of some other ] 
species. | 
Perch resort to pits, eddies, holes, the pillars | 
of bridges, and mill-dams; they frequent the j 
floors of staunches early in the morning, where i 
they may be taken in great numbers at break of I 
day, by means of a casting-net ; in these places I 
they work to meet the fresh water that oozes J 
through. I 
The Perch has a tendency to ascend towards 
the springs of rivers, having a great repugnance | 
to sea-water. It delights in clean swift streams I 
with a gravelly bottom, not very deep ; it is sel- | 
dom found at a greater depth than a yard below | 
the surface. It is tenacious of life, though per- | 
haps less so than the Carp ; it has been known i 
to survive a journey of fifty miles, in the old 
days of travelling, when railways were unknown. 
Like other anglers’ Fish,” the Perch is not 
very often seen on the stalls of fishmongers in i 
London. In Billingsgate market it is, however, 
sometimes exposed, especially on Fridays, as it ' 
is bought chiefly by J ews to form part of their ’ 
Sabbath repast. We believe that this Fish is ; 
kept by the dealers in tanks, and that those which i 
are not sold are frequently so little injured by 
