306 



HISTORY OF FISHES. 



long; almost equally broad throughout ; the 

 head small, a little elongated ; the eyes in the 

 hinder part of the head ; the fin covering the 

 gills from four to six rays: the covers of the 

 gills closed below. 



49. The Amia or Bonito. The body round 

 ind slender; the head, forehead, and breast, 

 without skin ; the fin covering the gills with 

 welve rays ; two beards from the nose. 



50. The Mormyrus. The body oblong ; the 



It eats worms and aquatic insects, and is also said to 

 swallow the mud at the bottom of its abode for the sake 

 of larvse and seeds. Hence the flavour of its flesh de- 

 pends upon the nature of its food. Walton says, in his 

 usual quaint and amusing style, " the tongues of carps 

 are noted to be choice and costly meat, especially to 

 them that buy them ; hut Gesner says, carps have no 

 tongue like other fish, but a piece of flesh like fish, in 

 their mouth, like to a tongue, and should be called a 

 palate ; but it is certain it is choicely good, and that the 

 carp is to be reckoned among those leather-mouthed fish, 

 which, I told you, have their teeth in their throat; and 

 for that reason he is very seldom lost by breaking his 

 hold, if your hook be once stuck in his chops.'' 



The general length of the carp is about two feet: 

 specimens have, however, been found of four feet in 

 length. 



The frog is said to be the mortal enemy of the carp. 

 Walton says, that a pond, well stocked with carp has 

 been known to lose all its fish in a single summer, in 

 consequence of the depredations of the frogs. He says 

 that a " gentleman of tried honesty" told him that he 

 saw, in a hot day in summer, a large carp swim near 

 the top of the water, with a frog upon its head ; and 

 that he upon that occasion caused his pond to be let dry 

 and I say, of seventy or eighty carps, he only found five 

 or six in the said pond, and those very sick and lean 

 and with every one a frog, sticking so fast on the" head 

 of the said carps, that the frog could not be got off' with- 

 out extreme force or killing. And a person of honour, 

 now living in Worcesteshire, assured me he had seen a 

 necklace, or collar of tadpoles, hang, like a chain, or 

 necklace of beads, about a pike's neck, and so killec 

 him ; whether it were for meat or malice, must be to 

 roe a question. 



Gold and Silver Carp, or what are called Gold and 

 Silver Fishes, the Cyprinus duratus, of Linnaeus 

 were brought originally to England from China about the 

 year 1691. 



The former are of an orange gold colour, with very 

 shining scales, and finely variegated with black and dark 

 brown. When young, its colour is dark brown or black, 

 which is afterwards replaced by the orange gold hue. It 

 is naturalized in this country, and in other parts o 

 Europe, and breeds freely in warm and sheltered situa 

 tions. Our supply is chiefly obtained from Portugal 

 where this fish abounds. The silver fish differs from 

 the former only in colour, which is similar to silve 

 tissue ; it generally has scarlet fins, and is curiously 

 marked in several parts of the body. Both varieties are 

 also subject to variation in the fins, which are occasion 

 ally double ; and specimens have been seen with tripl< 

 tails, but such a developement is generally at the ex 

 pense of some other fin. 



When I happen to visit a family (says Gilber 

 White) where gold and silver fishes are kept in a glas 

 bowl, I am always pleased with the occurrence, becausi 

 it offers me an opportunity of observing the actions am 

 propensities of those beings with whom we can be littli 

 acquainted in their natural state. Not long since I spen 

 a fortnight at the house of a friend, where there was sue" 

 a vivary, to which I paid no small attention, taking ever 

 occasion to remark what passed within its narrow limits 

 It was here that I first observed the manner in whic 

 fishes die. As soon as the creature sickens, the hea 

 sinks lower and lower, and it stands as it were on it 

 head ; till, getting weaker, and losing all poise, the ta 

 turns over, and at last it floats on the surface of th 



vater, with its belly uppermost. The reason why fishes, 

 when dead, swim in that manner is very obvious ; be- 

 muse when the body is no longer balanced by the fins of 

 he belly, the broad muscular back preponderates by its 

 iwn gravity, and turns the belly uppermost, as lighter, 

 rom its being a cavity, and because it contains the 

 wimming bladders, which contribute to render it buoy- 

 .nt. 



Some that delight in gold and silver fishes have adopted 

 i notion that they need no aliment. True it is, that 

 hey will subsist for a long time without any apparent 

 bod, but what they can collect from pure water, fre- 

 quently changed ; yet they must draw some support 

 rom animalcnlse, and other nourishment supplied by the 

 ,vater; because, though they seem to eat nothing, yet 

 ndioations of their having eaten are found in their glass 

 abodes. That they are best pleased with such jejune 

 diet may easily be confuted ; since, if you toss them 

 crumbs they will seize them with great readiness, not to 

 say greediness : however, bread should be given spar- 

 ngly, lest, turning sour, it corrupt the water. They 

 will also feed on the aquatic plant called lemna, or 

 duck's meat, and also on small fry. 



Hawkins, the editor of Walton, says that fine gravel 

 should be strewed at the bottom of the vessel containing 

 the fish ; " frequently changing the water, and feeding 

 them with bread and gentles. Those who can take more 

 pleasure in angling for, then in beholding them, which 

 I confess I could never do, may catch them with gentles ; 

 but though costly, they are but coarse food." 



When they want to move a little (continues White) 

 they gently protrude themselves with their pinnae pec- 

 torales ; but it is with their strong muscular tails only 

 that they, and all fishes, shoot along with such incon- 

 ceivable rapidity. It has been said that the eyes of 

 fishes, are immovable : but these apparently turn them 

 forward or backward in their sockets, as their occasions 

 require. They take little notice of a lighted candle, 

 though applied close to their heads, but flounce and 

 seem much frightened by a sudden stroke of the hand 

 against the support whereon the bowl is hung, especially 

 when they have been motionless, and are perhaps asleep. 

 As fishes have no eyelids, it is not easy to discern when 

 they are sleeping or not, because their eyes are always 

 open. Nothing can be more amusing than a glass bowl, 

 containing such fishes : the double refractions of the 

 glass and water represent them when moving in a shift- 

 ing and changeable variety of dimensions, shades, and 

 colours; while the two mediums, assisted by the concavo- 

 convex shape of the vessel, magnify and distort them 

 vastly; not to mention that the introduction of another 

 element and its inhabitants into our parlours engages 

 the fancy in a very agreeable manner. Some people 

 exhibit this sort of fish in a very fanciful way; for they 

 cause a glass bowl to be blown with a large hollow space 

 within, that does not communicate with it. In this 

 cavity they put a bird occasionally, so that you may see 

 a goldfinch or a linnet, hopping as it were in the midst 

 of the water, and the fishes swimming in a circle round 

 it. The simple exhibition of the fishes is agreeable and 

 pleasant ; but in so complicated a way, becomes whim- 

 sical and unnatural, and liable to the objection due to him, 



Qui variare cupit rem prodigalitor uiiam. * 



The Tench. This, according to Artedi, is a species 

 of the carp, and is thick and bulky in proportion to its 



" Who desires to impart a monstrous variation to an object." 



