FOOD OF FISHES 



WERE we to make a general inference from a few 

 facts, we might conclude that several fish contrive to 

 live without taking any other food than the water in 

 which they swim. The herring, for example, is 

 never, when caught, found to have anything in its 

 stomach, and, what is no less singular, the salmon has 

 not been observed to have anything in its stomach 

 besides a sort of yellow fluid ; while the trout, which so 

 much resembles it in many particulars, has usually its 

 paunch fully crammed. In the instance of the gold fish, 

 Dr. Fordyce kept some in water, supposed to be pure, 

 and by merely supplying them with fresh air, they not 

 only lived for many months, but increased considerably 

 in size; proving that they may be maintained in a 

 perfect and healthy state for a considerable time, with 

 nothing besides fresh water exposed- to the air. 



" Some," says White of Selbourne, " that delight in 

 gold and silver fishes, have adopted a notion that they 

 need no aliment. True it is, that they will subsist for 

 a long time without any apparent food but what they 

 can collect from pure water frequently changed ; yet 

 they must draw some support from animalcula, and 

 other nourishment supplied by the water; because, 

 though they seem to eat nothing, yet the consequences 

 of eating often drop from them. That they are best 

 pleased with such jejune diet may be easily confuted, 

 since, if you toss them crumbs, they will seize them 



