76 



THE AQUARIUM, OCTOBER, 1893. 



proved very fatal to mine. Often I do not 

 have a case for some weeks, and then it will 

 again appear. Can you explain the cause or 

 give any remedy for the evil ? I keep my 

 fish out of doors, some in cypress tank, others 

 in a fifteen hundred gallon cement pond. My 

 fish have been changed about and mixed so I 

 cannot say that my trouble originated in any 

 particular receptacle. All my water plants are 

 in fine growing condition, and that I have 

 always been told was a proof of healthy sur- 

 roundings." 



The cause of this disease is self- 

 poisoning (Autointoxication), brought 

 about by over-fatigue and scare. We 

 have frequently had it among goldfish, 

 especially among imported stock or such 

 that was bought from inexperienced 

 dealers. Stock of our own breeding or 

 that which has been raised and shi23j)ed 

 to us by careful breeders has never been 

 affected by it. This seems to be proof 

 that the germs of this disease are laid 

 while the fish are cooped up in large 

 numbers in an insufficient quantity of 

 water while on the road, and by rough 

 handling of the cans containing them, 

 all of which causes a severe shock to 

 their nervous system. 



Let us see what these little creatures, 

 that are intended to become our pets, 

 are expected to stand from ignorant or 

 heartless people. 



Goldfish are raised in quiet, sunny 

 ponds, generally pleasantly located. 

 They are seldom scared, and when they 

 are, the scare is not very severe, because 

 they know they can find shelter in 

 deeper water or among aquatic plants 

 if need be. Neither are such occasional 

 scares of long enough duration to have 

 serious effects. The first trouble begins 

 when fish are removed from their ponds. 

 They are then unavoidably more or less 

 scared by the process of fishing them 

 out; and when caged-up in dark cans 

 witli too many others of their kind. 



their excitement is increased; but when 

 the oxygen in that can becomes ex- 

 hausted then they are nearly scared to 

 death ; they struggle then for dear life, 

 try to leap out of their horrible prison, 

 but are prevented by the closed lid of 

 the can. 



With a jolt, that must seem to the 

 little fish an earthquake, the can is 

 lifted in the wagon. On their way to 

 the depot or to the store the can is 

 jolted about in a more or less rough 

 way. This, while it has the benefit of 

 aerating the water, puts a new tax on 

 the already much exhausted fish ; they 

 have to use what little strength they 

 may have left, to swim in the swinging 

 water, against a current of water as it 

 were. 



In a perfectly exhausted condition 

 such fish arrive at the store. Here 

 they are, in most cases, liberated in a 

 very rude fashion. The can, being 

 "slammed" out of the wagon, is emp- 

 tied by simply "dumping" its con- 

 tents, helter-skelter into a tank. 



If such a journey requires bnt one or 

 two hours, the fish will recover from 

 the shock if afterward under proper 

 care (See particulars under " Trans- 

 portation " in The Gold Fish and its 

 Culture), but when such fish are again 

 put under similar tortures, to last for 

 days or weeks without their accustomed 

 nourishment and without rest to recu- 

 perate their strength, their system is 

 completely disarranged, their nerves 

 and muscles are inflamed, the free cir- 

 culation of the blood is hindered, and 

 the fish begins to decompose, although 

 still alive. 



It is a well known fact that wild 

 animals can be chased to death by dogs. 

 Even if they are not caught and killed 

 outright, they often die sooner or later 

 thereafter of the effects of the great 



