50 MALACOP. ABDOM. CARP FAMILY. 



tliat they are soon reconciled to their situation, and 

 eat boiled potatoes in considerable quantities. " They 

 soon lost," says he, " their original shyness, and fed 

 in my presence without any scruple." As with many 

 other fishes, so with these, much variety of opinion 

 has existed as to their merit as an article of food. 

 The ancients held them in no very high esteem ; 

 by the writers of the 16th century they are ranked 

 as an important aliment ; and at present they are 

 highly prized in France, Germany and Austria; 

 Mr. Yarrell, we should think, is not far from the 

 truth, when he stages that they are highly indebted 

 to cooks for the estimation in which they are held 

 for the table. 



(Sp. 96.) C. carassius. The Crucian Carp. This 

 species of Carp, which by some of the Thames fisher- 

 men is called the German Carp, has been introduced 

 into the list of British fishes by the assiduous atten- 

 tion of Mr. Yarrell, who has now had an oppor- 

 tunity of examining two specimens ; and his decision 

 has been corroborated by the authority of other able 

 naturalists. Mr. Yarrell's specimens were captured 

 in the Thames, between Hammersmith and Windsor, 

 its only ascertained habitat in this country. Its 

 average weight may probably be about one pound 

 and a half; one specimen obtained weighing two 

 pounds eleven ounces ; the other one pound. Re- 

 specting its habits we have little intelligence ; Bloch 

 states it spawns in May. The colour of the upper 

 parts of the body is a rich golden brown, becoming 



