"This beautiful fish measures from four to six inches in length, and tapers gradually to the tail. When taken out of the water, it has a bright silvery white appearance, with a slight tendency to a light blue along the back and part of the sides. In size it resembles a small herring or par, but particularly the former, not only in the mouth and external appearance, but also in the anatomical structure. _Upon the top of the head_ there is a very distinct _shape of a heart_, covered with a transparent substance of a brownish colour, resembling a thin lamina of mica slate, _through which the brain is visible_. This peculiar mark proves it to be as yet a distinct and undescribed species. Nothing is ever found visible to the naked eye in the stomach of the Vendace. They are extremely delicate, and are allowed to be the most pleasing to the taste of all fish. The general mode of catching them is with a net, as there is no instance known of their having been caught either with bait or the artificial fly. The pike, with which this lake abounds, is their greatest enemy. It has been frequently stated that no fewer than fifteen distinct species of fish, fit for the table, have been found in the Castle Loch." Dr. Knox, sometime Lecturer upon Anatomy in Edinburgh, states: "That he has not only discovered the food of the Vendace, but actually exhibited it before the Members of the Royal Society, and offers suggestions for the stocking of the various lakes in Britain with this exquisite fish; pointing out first the necessity of locating its natural food, without which it cannot live." Allowing, however, that some neighbouring lake could be covered with some of these invisible and "incredibly minute entomostraceous animals," which the learned lecturer says constitute their food, we should still find a difficulty in transferring the fish; as every attempt to do so, though conducted with the greatest possible care and nicety, _has failed_. In the preceding account, I have followed the Rev. John Gardiner of Lochmaben, who, in 1835, drew up an admirable account of his parish, which is inserted in the statistical survey of the county. The gentlemen of the county have formed a {302} _Vendace Club_, which meets at Lochmaben annually on the 25th and 26th of July, when they dine off the fish. I asked one of the members how long it had been in existence, and he said about thirty years. JARLTZBERG. * * * * * Minor Queries. _Ex Pede Herculem._--I shall feel much obliged if any of your correspondents or readers can inform me of the origin of the proverb "Ex pede Herculem." In what classical author is it to be found? I have looked in vain through _Erasmi Adagia_ for it. H. H. "_To-day we purpose._"--Will any one be good enough to say where these lines (quoted by Mr. Ruskin, _Modern Painters_, vol. ii. p. 188.) are to be found:--