THE GOLDFISH 



183 



used to breed to Telescopes to produce Telescopic young. This is usually 

 successful in the first generation, but it has a tendency to spoil the breed 

 by gradually reducing the size of the eyes. Telescope fishes of the present 

 time are, for the most part, considerably inferior in point of eyes com- 

 pared with the stock of the first years of the present century, due mainly 

 to breeding too exclusively for short bodies and long fins. Artificial 

 type characteristics in any kind of breeding can, like liberty, only be 

 maintained at the price of eternal vigilance. 



THE CHINESE SCALELESS TELESCOPE GOLDFISH 



As before stated, "scaleless" is somewhat of a misnomer, the fish 

 being transparently scaled, making the scales difficult to detect. We 

 use the word "scaleless" in its accepted popular sense. 



Fig. 156. Chinese Scaleless Telescope (Dorsal view) 



Fish of this general division are divided into two color classes- 

 Plain Scaleless and Calico. The Plain Scaleless is red, white or a com- 

 bination of the two. Red in scaleless fish is quite different from that 

 in scaled varieties, being more of an oxblood color, producing a highly 

 refined appearance. In scaleless fish the bodies do not have a metallic 

 lustre. The colors seem as though they had been laid on by the delicate 

 hand of a water-color artist. These fish have white fins, sometimes 

 dotted with black, and rarely mixed with red. During the first few 

 months the roots of the tails are usually dark, but this gradually disap- 

 pears. 



