The Pike is the most voracious of fresh-water fish. It devours frogs, young ducks, and all the fish which comes in its way. Its presence in a pond very soon depopulates it. Pike four or five feet long are not rare in the great lakes of Northern Europe. In 1497 a pike was caught at Kaiser-lauten, near Mannheim, which was nearly nineteen feet in length, and weighed 350 lbs. This monster had a gilt copper ring round its neck bearing this inscription: "I was the first fish that was thrown into this pond by the hands of Frederick II., October 5th, 1230" - it was consequently 267 years old ! The pike is excellent stuffed with veal stuffing and roasted. These fish are seldom bought in London for the table, but are justly prized by the angler.

Constituent parts of I lb.