CARP CARPI. 



65 



son, prince Frederic, procured (1772) the imprison- 

 ment of the queen, the counts Struensee and Brandt, 

 and all their friends. Struensee and Brandt were 

 tried, and executed for high treason. Even the queen 

 was at first in danger of being condemned to death. 

 April 6, she was separated from her husband, and 

 confined in Aalborg, but liberated by the interference 

 of her brother, king George III. She died May 10, 

 1775, at Celle, in Hanover, scarcely twenty-four years 

 old, of a lung fever, the consequence of her grief. 

 The interesting letter in which she took leave of her 

 brother, the king of England, is to be found in the 

 small work Die lezten Stunden der Kontgin von Dane- 

 mark. She was of a mild temper, and beloved by 

 all around her. 



CARP (cyprintis, L.) ; a genus of soft-finned ab- 

 dominal fish, which Cuvier makes the fourth family 

 of the order. This is a very natural genus, contain- 

 ing very numerous species. It is easily distinguish- 

 able by the small mouth, toothless jaws, and gills of 

 three flat rays. The tongue and palate are smooth, 

 but the gullet is admirably constructed for mastica- 

 tion, having large teeth attached to the inferior pha- 

 ryngeal bones, which press the food between them- 

 selves and a gelatinous knob, connected with a bony 

 plate that is united with the first vertebra, commonly 

 called the carp's tongue. They have but one dorsal 

 fin, and the body is covered with scales, generally of 

 large size. They frequent fresh and quiet waters, 

 feeding on herbs, grains, and even mud, being, per- 

 haps, the least carnivorous of the finny race. Some 

 of the species have a beard of small, fleshy threads at 

 the angles of the upper jaw. The most noted of the 

 species are the common carp (C. carpio, L.), which, 

 in many parts of the world, are bred in ponds for the 

 use of the table, and the goldfish (C. auratus), be- 

 lieved to be originally from China, very commonly 

 bred in ponds and vases as an ornament, on account 

 of its beautiful colours. In his memoir on American 

 Icthyology, Dr Mitchill enumerates four species of 

 carp, under the names of C. teres, fresh-water suck- 

 er ; C. oblongus, chub of New York ; C. chrysoleu- 

 cas, New York sliiner ; and C. atronasus, brook min- 

 now. The common carp of Europe is esteemed very 

 highly for stocking ponds, being of quick growth, 

 spawning thrice a-year. As the females do not com- 

 mence breeding until eight or nine years old, it is 

 necessary to keep up a supply of carp of that age by 

 avoiding to destroy the females. The proportion of 

 males to be preserved is four for every twelve fe- 

 males. Under common circumstances, the carp grows 

 two or three inches in length in a year ; but, where 

 the ponds are exceedingly well supplied with food, 

 they liave been known to grow from five to eighteen 

 inches in the same time. They thrive best in ponds 

 having clayey or marly sides, and well provided with 

 aquatic vegetables. In order to furnish them with 

 fresh vegetable food, it is usual to rake the sides of 

 the pond, left dry by evaporation, with an iron rake, 

 and then to sow grass-seed, so that, when the pond 

 is again filled up by the rains, there may be a growth 

 of tender herbage for the fish. Grains of various 

 sorts, and garbage, are frequently thrown into the 

 pond, with a view to aid in fattening carp. A pond 

 of one acre in extent is said to be sufficient to feed 

 300 carp of two or three years, or 400 of one year 

 old. Carp, in their native condition, frequent the 

 deepest places of ponds or rivers, where there is the 

 least current. It is a fish which requires much pa- 

 tience and address in the angler. They seldom bite 

 in cool weather, but, during hot seasons, bite very 

 freely. The bait commonly used in angling for carp 

 is worms, and sometimes grasshoppers. Various 

 sweet pastes are also used, formed of honey or sugar, 

 mingled with flour and small quantities of venl, 



pounded together in a mortar, till sufficiently tough 

 to adhere to a hook without being easily washed off. 

 A little white wool, mixed with the other ingredients, 

 is of great assistance in giving the mass the requisite 

 tenacity. To increase the pleasure and profit of carp 

 fishing, it is well, for a few days previous, to have 

 some Drawer's grains or other food thrown into the 

 water, by which the fish will be induced to collect at 

 any particular place in greater numbers. 



CARPATHIAN MOUNTAINS; one of the most 

 extensive ranges of mountains in Europe, which co- 

 vers an area of about 39,432 square miles ; running 

 from the Black sea, between Wallachia and Molda- 

 via, through Transylvania, Galicia, and Hungary, to 

 Silesia, there uniting itself with the Riesengebirge, 

 at the pass of Jablunka (where are the sources of the 

 Oder and Vistula), and sending out spurs, which 

 reach as far as the Danube, and the spurs of the 

 Alps. The highest points (covered with perpetual 

 snow), called Tatra, rise in peaks, of which the most 

 elevated, the Lomnitzpeak (Lomnitzer Spitze), is over 

 8162 feet high. The principal chain contains much 

 salt. On the branches, the vine is cultivated, and 

 various metals, precious and base, are found in them. 

 The Carpathian mountains have lately been atten- 

 tively investigated by geologists, and interesting 

 facts have been ascertained respecting them. They 

 afford refuge to a great number of Gipsies. 



CARPENTARIA ; a large bay on the north coast 

 of New Holland} Ion. 130 50* E. ; lat. 10 20* S. 

 That part of the country which borders on the bay is 

 also called Carpentaria. 



CARPETS are thick textures, composed wholly or 

 partly of wool, and wrought by several dissimilar 

 methods. The simplest mode is that used in weav- 

 ing Venetian carpets, the texture of which is plain, 

 composed of a striped woollen warp on a thick woof 

 of linen thread. Kidderminster carpeting is compos- 

 ed of two woollen webs, which intersect each other 

 in such a manner as to produce definite figures. 

 Brussels carpeting has a basis composed of a warp 

 and woof of strong linen thread. But to every two 

 threads of linen hi the warp, there is added a parcel 

 of about ten threads of woollen of different colours. 

 The linen thread never appears on the upper sur- 

 face, but parts of the woollen threads are, from time 

 to time, drawn up in loops, so as to constitute orna- 

 mental figures, the proper colour being each time 

 selected from the parcel to which it belongs. A suf- 

 ficient number of these loops is raised to produce a 

 uniform surface. To render them equal, each row 

 passes over a wire, which is subsequently with- 

 drawn. In some cases, the loops are cut through 

 with the end of the wire, which is sharpened for the 

 purpose, so as to cut off the thread as it passes out. In 

 forming the figure, the weaver is guided by a pattern, 

 which is drawn in squares upon a paper. Turkey 

 carpets appear to be fabricated upon the same gene- 

 ral principles as the Brussels, except that the texture 

 is all woollen, and the loops larger, and always cut. 

 There are several carpet-manufactories in New Eng- 

 land, which make handsome goods. The English 

 and Americans are the only nations among whom 

 carpets are articles of general use. 



CARPI, UGO DA, a painter and engraver, flourished 

 in the beginning of the sixteenth century. He is 

 generally considered as the inventor of that species 

 of engraving denominated chiaro-oscvro, which was 

 afterwards carried to such perfection by Balthasar 

 Peruzzi. 



CARPI, GIROLAMO DA, a painter of the sixteenth 

 century, a native of Ferrara, painted many pictures 

 for the churches there and at Bologna. He was a 

 great admirer of Correggio and Parmegiano, whose 

 works he copied with great success. He oied in 1556. 



