The Minnow. 485 
each. A place conveniently situated for the fishing is 
baited with grain, or other coarse food, for ten days or 
a fortnight regularly, after which great sport is usually 
obtained. The party frequently catch several hundred- 
weight, which are distributed among the poor of the vici- 
nity, who split and dry them with great care, to eat with 
their potatoes. 
THE MINNOW. (Cyprinus phoxinus.) 
The body of the Minnow is of a blackish green, with 
blue and yellow variegations ; the abdomen silvery ; 
scales small ; ten rays in the ventral, anal, and dorsal 
fins ; tail forked, and marked near the base with a dusky 
spot. Its length is about three inches. 
This beautiful and well-known fish is gregarious, and 
is frequent in clear gravelly streams and rivulets in many 
parts of Europe. In Britain it appears in March, and is 
seldom seen after October. It spawns in June, and is, 
indeed, found in roe during the greater part of the 
summer. It is easily tamed : and, in captivity, may be 
taught to pick flies or filaments of beef from the hand. 
The flesh of the Minnow is extremely delicate, but 
the fish is so small that it would take a great number 
to make a dish, and consequently it is seldom used for 
human food. Its chief value is as a bait for catching 
other fish. In some parts of England it is so abundant 
as sometimes to be used as manure. 
