202 CYPRINID^. 



from the Low Countries, or Austria, previous to the suppression 

 of the monastic institutions. 



The Carp thrives best in ponds or lakes, and in such parts 

 of rivers as have a slow, lazy current, and a muddy or marshy 

 bottom. 



"They are very prolific/' I again quote from Mr. Yarrel, 

 " breeding much more freely in lakes and ponds than in rivers. 

 Bloc found six hundred thousand ova in the roe of a female of 

 nine pounds' weight, and Schneider seven hundred thousand in 

 a fish of ten pounds' weight. They spawn toward the end of 

 May, or the beginning of June, depending on the temperature 

 of the water and the season; and the ova are deposited upon 

 weeds, among which the female is followed by two or three 

 males, and the fecundation of a large proportion of the ova is 

 by this provision of nature effectually secured ; but they both 

 breed and grow much more freely in some waters than in others, 

 without any apparent or accountable cause." 



The Carp, and indeed the whole family of Cyprinidce, are the 

 least voracious of all fishes, and the least addicted to animal 

 food, the larvae of insects, worms, the softer and more gelatinous 

 parts of aquatic plants, and even vegetable mud, furnishing 

 them with ample subsistence. During the winter, it is believed 

 that they eat little or nothing, and lie, half torpid, in the mud. 

 They are extraordinarily tenacious of life, and can be kept alive 

 in a cool place for many days, and even weeks, if placed in wet 

 moss, and fed on bread steeped in milk. This peculiarity 

 renders them very easy of transportation. 



They are slow of growth, not arriving at the weight of ten 

 pounds before their sixth year ; they arrive, however, ultimately 



