210 SPOLIA ZEYLANICA. 
back of the Museum, and twenty were placed in the large pond in 
Peradeniya Gardens. In a footnote to Dr. Willey’s paper on the 
Fresh-water Fisheries of Ceylon (Spolia Zeylanica, Vol. VIL., 
Part XXVI., p. 96) I wrote as follows: “‘On November 5, 1910, 
Mr. Green and I made an examination of the pond at Peradeniya 
and found no signs of the gourami. Two native fishermen were 
employed, and they used a vertical net somewhat like a seive net. 
After an exhaustive search they declared that there were no fish in 
the pond. The pond overflows into the Mahaweli-ganga, and it is 
probable that the fish have escaped to the river, although the ledge 
which guards the overflow would render this difficult but not 
impossible.” Since the above was written, Mr. Pertwee of Colombo 
has seen some of the gourami in the Peradeniya pond, so that it is 
not true that all the gourami have escaped to the river. I had the 
small Museum tank emptied on May 16, 1911, and found the three 
gourami in a flourishing condition. 
No figures are available regarding the exact sizes of the fish when 
first placed in the tank, but Dr. Willey, speaking in general terms 
of all the fish imported, said that they measured from six to eight 
inches in length. Those measurements refer to September, 1909. 
The following are the measurements of the three fish in the Museum 
tank taken in May, 1911 :— 
(1). (2). (3). 
Weightoftish ~—) dilb2 oz5 . ob 1007, oe dale 
Total length .. 12 in. Bae ep to 7 LOJoans 
Height of middle 
of body eaai eo ih =f ip 0 al -< eeOstn 
It is highly probable that a further stock of gourami will be 
‘imported, and after being suitably labelled they will be deposited 
in various tanks and ponds in different parts of the country. Here 
they will be protected to some extent from their natural enemies 
until they have become acclimatized and have fairly established 
themselves. If spawning is successful, as undoubtedly it ought to 
be, the young fry can be gradually transplanted either to other ponds 
where they will be preserved or directly to the rivers. 
JOSEPH PEARSON. 

25. Proposed further attempt to introduce the Gourami (‘‘ Osphro- 
menus olfax’’) into Ceylon, with notes on a suitable locality.—The 
gourami is so well known and so highly prized as an article of 
food throughout the Far East, that its absence from the rivers and 
tanks of Ceylon constitutes one of the many mysteries of our local 
domestic economy. True, several attempts to introduce gourami 
into Ceylon waters have been made in the past, the earliest of which 
