384 Messrs. Playfuir and Letoumeux on the 



of fresh and ])rackisli Avatcr, in the east of Algeria, from La 

 Calle to Philippeville and from Constantine to Tebessa ; the 

 Barhus setifensis^ wliich is foimd all over Algeria ; the 

 Sy7ifjnathus ahjeriensis, peculiar to the Seybouse and the two 

 streams which unite to form it, the Oued Cherf and the Bou- 

 II am dan. 



From the foregoing it is evident that the fish-fauna of the 

 Tell and of the High Plateaux belongs exclusively to the 

 European or Mediterranean system, and that the Sahara alone 

 is linked to the African system by its Chromidfe — conclusions 

 amply borne out by the flora and entomology of those regions. 



III. Acclimatization. 



Except those which enter the rivers from the sea, the only 

 fish which constitute an appreciable article of food are the eel 

 and the two barbels. 



The Salmo macrostigma^ of which the flesh equals in deli- 

 cacy that of its European congeners, is only fomid in a few 

 rivers far from the centres of population, and cannot be easily 

 transported. The Chromida?, of which the flesh resembles that 

 of the perch, never attain a great size, and are confined to the 

 Sahara, whence it is impossible to convey them to om* markets. 

 The others are too small or too rare to be of use as an article 

 of food. 



The eel and the barbels arc sold in large quantities ; but 

 the latter are detestable, and suited only to the accommodating 

 stomach of the hungry soldier, especially when they have at- 

 tained a considerable size, or have lived in water with a muddy 

 bottom. 



It is therefore a great desideratum to substitute or, rather, 

 to add other species more valuable as articles of food. 



The Arabs have never shown a very great liking for fish, 

 and have never attempted to naturalize them, except in the 

 case of the goldfish, which was prized rather for its beauty 

 than for its economic value. 



The first attem]>t to introduce Euro])can sjiooies since ihe 

 French conquest was made in IS.IS by MM. Kralik and Cosson, 

 who brought to Constantino a barrel of young car]) and the ova 

 of various Salmonidas The latter were successfully hatched ; 

 and the young fish developed rapidly in the pure water of the 

 cistern in which they were placed ; but no sooner were they 

 launched into the water of the river Kummel than their bodies 

 and eyes seemed to get covered with a sort of calcareous film, 

 and they speedily died. The carp, on the contrary, have sue- 



