724 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



were sent to tlie father iu a glass vessel. The water was not changed 

 on the route, and no one took special care of it. Ten anabas and three 

 goiiramis arrived, livdag, at Marseilles ou the first of Aagiist. In the 

 same vessel were found the skeletons of those which had died on the 

 way. This success, says M. Carbonnier, is of importance, as it furnishes 

 proof that all fishes with labyriuthiform pharyngeals can dispense with 

 taking oxygen through the medium of water, and are able to avail them- 

 selves of the atmospheric air directly. Those tiiat died on the way from 

 Marseilles probably died from hunger rather than from insufficient aera- 

 tion or other active malady (1874, 526-527). 



A very recent record of unexpected success in the preservation of the 

 gourami in the open air, during the winter, may seem to almost nullify 

 the experience of others, and the inferences recorded in the preceding 

 chapter. The account referred to has been published in the '' Bulletin 

 de la Societe d'acclimatation" for March, 1874, and the following is al- 

 most a literal translation of the passages. 



" M. Turrel writes from Toulon : The water-basin of our garden is 

 enriched with two gouramis, whicih have for two years supported the 

 climate of our Provence under conditions which appear to me to deserve 

 ±obe mentioned. But before entering upon the details of this introduc- 

 tion, I ask myself if the fishes in question are truly gouramis. In form, 

 they resemble carps; in dimension, they are nearly fifteen centimeters 

 in length; their color is a very brilliant bronze copper. The following 

 is the history of their introduction as it has been furnished to myself: 



"In 1872, M. Daniels, second captain of the mail-steamer, took from 

 Singapore for Ciotat (Bouches-du-Rhone) nearly" two hundred young 

 gouramis, of which only four survived the passage. These four were 

 placed in an un walled basin, having a depth of about two meters, and 

 ou the bottom of which aquatic plants were growing. In this body of 

 water, the four fishes have passed two winters; in that season plunging 

 into the bottom to avoid the attacksof cold, and supporting under these 

 conditions 4° (39O.20 Fahrenheit) of temperature. 



"Two of these fishes were given to me by a friend of M. Dauveld, 

 who had obtained them to place iu the basin. I received them the 13th 

 of February, and placed them immediately in the basin of our garden, 

 which has little depth and little extent, but is provided with a southern 

 exposure, and protected against radiation by rock-work in the form of a 

 grotto" (1874,225-220). 



The doubt involved in this case is as to the species of fish experi- 

 . ?nted with, and the doubt apparently conceived by M. Turrel may be 

 pardoned in others until the fishes have been examined by an experienced 

 ichthyologist. 



While the French Society of Acclimatization was year after year 

 attempting to introduce tlie gourami into France, frequent tenders of 

 service were made by affiliated societies or individuals. Among others^ 

 the Baron Dunast suggested to the society a small rivulet in Sicily — the 

 Auapo, or, as it was anciently called, the Anapus — as one which ap- 



