OR, THE HOME-CULTURE OF FRESH-WATER PLANTS. 



Amateurs should insist that the single old species, 

 with its varieties and suh -varieties, no longer satisfies 

 them (it being well known that the only kind yet in- 

 troduced is esteemed by the Chinese the poorest of 

 all), and that they now require some of the splendid 

 species which are described as common enough in 

 China, though never yet introduced into Europe. 



The Gold Pish is a Carp (Cyprinus aureus, or 

 Golden Carp), and is very closely allied to our less 

 brilliantly coloured species. Its first introduction to 

 Europe is variously dated as 1611, 1691, and 1 728 ; 

 the earliest seen in Prance were, however, those 

 sent for Madame de Pompadour. Soon after- 

 wards they became tolerably common, as it was 

 found that they throve well in the waters of South- 

 ern Europe, especially in Portugal, where, from a 

 few small fish, said to have escaped accidentally 

 from a vessel newly arrived from China, several of 

 the streams in the neighbourhood of Lisbon soon 

 absolutely swarmed with them, and it is from that 

 source that our common supply is now generally 

 obtained. At the Mauritius, where they also be- 

 came very common, they are eaten as a delicacy. 



Even in England they flourish greatly in water 

 kept a little above the ordinary temperature. In 

 some of the manufacturing districts, where water- 



