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into England in 1614. In 1560 these fishes were habituated 

 to the waters of Denmark; and not many years subsequently 

 they were reared by the Swedes and the Dutch. But a 

 rigorous climate appears unfavourable to the growth of the 

 carp : the nearer it approaches to the polar circle the more 

 its size diminishes. 



In the present day these fish are found in nearly the whole 

 of Europe, in ponds, in lakes, and in rivers with a gentle 

 current. But though, of all fish, they have the least suscep- 

 tibility and delicacy, though they readily become habituated 

 to changes of situation, the carps experience a marked in- 

 fluence from the nature of the climate, and that of the waters; 

 sometimes they are very abundant in one part of a lake or 

 river, and very rare in another, at no great distance from the 

 former. 



The carps generally delight most in waters where the cur- 

 rent is not strong. It is in such that their flesh acquires a 

 better flavour, and their bulk becomes most considerable. In 

 certain Jakes of Germany it is not uncommon to find indi- 

 viduals weighing about thirty pounds ; on the confines of 

 Pomerania, and in Prussia, some have been caught still 

 heavier, as much as forty pounds weight. Pallas informs us 

 that there are carps in the Volga of five feet long, and Val- 

 mont de Bomare that one was served on the table of the 

 Prince of Conti, at Offenbourg, weighing forty-five pounds, 

 and four feet long : but the most gigantic carp ever known 

 was that mentioned bv Bloch, taken in 1711 at Bischofs- 

 hause, near Frankfort, on the Oder; it was nine feet in 

 length, three in height, and weighed seventy pounds. 



It would appear that these fishes live a prodigious length 

 of time; specimens have been spoken of 150 or 200 years 

 old. Their colour is less deep as they grow older, and in a 

 very advanced age it borders upon white. 



When the carps have attained this very advanced age they 



