MINOW. 267 



Tench. This is amongst the best of the fresh-water fish. 

 It is partial to still waters, where the bottom is muddy, and 

 where it can have shelter among rushes and weeds. In 

 ponds it is found a very useful and profitable species. 



It weighs from two to eight or ten pounds, and is short 

 and thick in proportion to its length. The scales are 

 small, and covered with slime. There is a small beard at 

 each corner of the mouth. The back is dusky, and the 

 belly greenish gold. The tail is rounded, and the anal 

 fin contains twenty-five rays. 



Gold Fish. It is said that these brilliant and beautiful 

 fish were first imported from China into Europe in the 

 year 1691. Though natives of the hot climates of the 

 east, they live through the winter in our ponds, and with- 

 out appearing to suffer by the cold. Not only in this 

 country, but in China, they are kept in glass or earthen- 

 ware vessels, on account of their beauty, and for the pur- 

 pose of ornament. In these vessels they are occasionally 

 fed with a little bread or flour; but if the water be regu- 

 larly changed, they will live for many months without any 

 apparent sustenance. The young fish are at first black; 

 afterwards they change to white, and then to gold co- 

 lour. 



The length of these fish is generally from six to about 

 eight inches. Their colour, when full grown, is a brilliant 

 golden red. They are shaped somewhat like a roach, and 

 have two anal fins. The caudal fin is transverse, and 

 generally divided into three parts. 



Minow. These little fish, which love to swim in shoals 

 near the surface of the water, first appear about the end of 

 March, and continue till Michaelmas. During the winter- 



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