Genre:

Introduction; Fragment, Spoof

Subjects:

Zoology, Hunting

People mentioned:

Konrad Gesner

    Presents a 'fragment of the long lost Eleventh Chapter of the Compleat Angler', which comprises a dialogue between 'Venator' and 'Piscator' on the characteristics of various fish as connoted by their names. For example, the chub is described as a fish that is 'very difficult to pick' (a reference to the lock company founded by Charles Chubb) and a variety of the 'Bramah' (a lock originally made by Joseph Bramah). The parr is described as a fish 'that has been known to live upward of a hundred years (a reference to Thomas Parr, known as 'Old Parr') and the pike is characterised as 'a solitary, morose, and very voracious' fish that takes a 'toll of all that pass'.