

10 



THE 



AQUARIUM 



# 



this seems to be the most likely 

 theory. The weakness of the theory 

 of "the slit of light" is that there is 

 nothing to prevent the fish looking at 

 the light from any angle by changing 

 the position of its body, which is, 

 naturally what a goldfish is doing all 

 the time. One fact in favor of the 

 "muscle-cutting" theory is that the fish 

 seem to have less power to roll their 

 eyes than the ordinary telescope, which 

 would, of course, be the case if one set 

 of muscles had been destroyed. I 

 believe, however, that the variety is a 

 definite breed produced in the regular 

 scientific manner by selection. That is, 

 by breeding together fish which have a 

 tendency to develop the eyes upward, 

 always breeding from the most perfect 

 specimens. Marvelous results have 

 been attained through selective breed- 

 ing, not only in goldfish, but in almost 

 every kind of animal and plant in 

 which certain points are desired. The 

 science of eugenics, of which we fre- 

 quently hear nowadays, proposes to 

 apply the science of proper selection to 

 the breeding of a better human race. 

 Why not? 



The secondary point in the celestial 

 telescope is the absence of the dorsal 

 fin. It has been definitely established 

 in the case of the lion's head goldfish 

 that it is not artificially eliminated, for 

 we have seen them raised in this 

 country minus dorsal fins. This can be 

 detected when the fry are from five to 

 seven days old. A scientifically estab- 

 lished fact is that acquired peculiarities 

 are not transmitted to offspring. For 

 this reason it is doubly fortunate that 

 we have at least one breeder who has 

 succeeded in hatching some celestial 

 telescope fry. As soon as the fish are 

 old enough we can definitely determine 



whether or not the celestial is a distinct 

 variety. From the proportion of the 

 \ouug showing the celestial character- 

 istics we may also ascertain with fair 

 accuracy how clearly the variety is 

 established. This should be by mid-sum- 

 mer of the present year (1913). 



So far as known, the accompanying 

 illustration is the first published photo- 

 graphic reproduction of a Chinese 

 celestial telescope goldfish. The view 

 is taken directly from the top, and 

 shows the fish in the act of turning 

 from (its) left to right. This accounts 

 for the peculiar position of the tails, 

 which are of the ordinary double type. 

 We are indebted to Mr. Franklin Barrett, 

 of Philadelphia, for the loan of this 

 splendid specimen for photographing. 



Nature never palls, never disappoints. 

 She will rest you, interest you, invigorate 

 you, inspire you. Her breath is balm, 

 her presence healing. You need take 

 no long journey across the sea, or 

 across the continent, for she is always at 

 hand —often at your very door —await- 

 ing recognition. 



The Guide to Nature. 



When we note the successive sur- 

 render of one out-door magazine after 

 another, we often wonder whether 

 there ever will come a time when the 

 general public will forsake nickel thea- 

 ters and moving picture shows for the 

 more satisfying pleasures of the study 

 of nature. Meanwhile we coniirue do- 

 ing what we can to awaken an interest 

 in such things, being possessed of much 

 of the spirit of the Irishman who hear- 

 ing that parrots often live to be 200 

 years old bought a specimen with the 

 intention of proving the matter by ex- 

 periment. The American Botanist. 



