102 BRITISH FRESH-WATER FISHES 
but in well-nourished individuals the greatest depth is most 
often equal to about one-third of the length. The lips are 
yellow, thick, and fleshy, usually, but not invariably, 
carrying four barbels, two of an olive colour 
hanging from the upper jaw, and two longer ones, coloured 
red or yellow, at the corners of the mouth. The eyes are 
large and well-set, with golden irides. The body is clothed 
with thick scales, so large as to number only thirty-five to 
thirty-nine along the lateral line, the diameter of each scale 
being greater by one-half than that of the eye. The prevailing 
body tint is bronze, brownish, or bluish on the back, blending 
into brassy and golden tints on the sides, and fading to 
something approaching white on the under parts. 
The single dorsal fin, of a grey colour, contains seventeen 
to twenty-two rays, whereof the first is bony and serrated. 
The base of this fin extends over about one-third of the length 
of the body. The caudal fin is purplish in hue, and is divided 
into two equal rounded lobes containing seventeen to nineteen 
rays. The pectoral and ventral fins match the caudal fin in 
colour ; the anal fin is reddish-brown with orange rays. 
Dr. Ginther says that the growth of the carp is perhaps 
more rapid than that of any other fresh-water fish. This 
would be a difficult thing to prove, seeing how much the 
growth of most fish, and the size they may attain, depends 
upon the abundance of food. The carp has this advantage 
over most of his rivals, that his diet is to a large extent 
vegetarian. He is able to make many a hearty meal where 
carnivorous fish must go fasting. But it would be an interest- 
ing experiment to match against each other different fish of 
those kinds which have no definite limit of size by putting 
them in stews, supplying them regularly with as much pro- 
vender as they could consume, and weighing them against 
each other at the end of a year. There might be found some- 
body bold enough to enter a pike, or even a rainbow trout, 
at scratch against Dr. Gunther’s carp. 
Appearance, 
