SHEAT-FISHES. 
221 
Small fishes, as trout, roach, salmon-fry, a 
young herring, or the hind part of an eel, are 
excellent bait for Pike ; and for large ones a 
young one of their own species. But a bright- 
coloured small bird, a goldfinch or yellow-ham- 
mer, will frequently kill, when they will not look 
at trout or roach. The best time for catching 
them is the morning ; if hazy, with little wind, so 
much the better.’^' 
Family III. Silurid^. 
{SJieat-JlsJies), 
An extensive assemblage of uncouth and re- 
pulsive fishes is found composing this Family. 
They are entirely destitute of scales, instead of 
which some genera have an armature of large 
angular bony plates, others have only a naked 
skin, invested with a thick coat of slimy mucus. 
In general the head is very broad and flat, with a 
great cat-like face ; the lips send forth beards 
(cirri) or fleshy tentacles, sometimes of great 
length. The mouth is small, sometimes furnished 
with close-set velvet-like teeth, but often quite 
toothless. In the great majority of the species 
the first ray of the dorsal, and of the pectorals, 
takes the form of a stout and strong articulated 
spine, the edges of which are often cut into sharp 
teeth pointing backward ; these spines are formi- 
dable weapons of offence. 
Four hundred species are reckoned as belong- 
ing to this Family, all of which are inhabitants of 
fresh waters. They abound in the great slow- 
^ O’Gorman, i. 318. 
