elongated one already referred to ; 



small. The color of the old is a nearly uniform fl^X, olive 

 green or brown, but the young is ornamented by severi to 

 nine slightly oblique blackish bands crossing the body; at/, 

 the base of the pectoral fin there is a distinct black spot, * 

 and another roundish spot exists on the side of the caudal 

 peduncle in front of the fin and above the lateral line. 

 The jaws are armed with a band of fine teeth; the roof 

 of the mouth is smooth. 



The gourami, in its native country, has always been 

 esteemed for the delicacy of its flesh, and Commerson, the 

 traveller, to whom we are indebted for our first precise de- 

 scription of the fish, has in rapture exclaimed that he never 

 tasted, among either salt or fresh water fishes, one more ex- 

 quisite in flavor than the gourami ii nihil inter pisces turn, 

 marines turn fluviatiles exquisitius unquam degustavi." In 

 such esteem is it held, that the Dutch colonists at Batavia 

 are said to keep them in very large earthen jars, removing 

 the water daily, and feeding it with aquatic plants or herbs, 

 and especially the one called Pistia natans, a species be- 

 longing to the Aracese or Arum family. 



In a state of freedom, the gourami lives, by preference, 

 in warm, still, or stagnant and somewhat muddy waters. It 

 it very sensitive to changes of temperature, and even in 

 the island of Bourbon retreats in the winter toward the 

 bottom of the ponds where the water is warmest, and bury- 

 ing itself in the mud, if present, seems to remain in a 

 torpid state while the cold lasts. The greatest heat appar- 

 ently does not incommode it, and in summer it ascends to 

 the surface of the water, basking in the sun, and, often 

 protruding its mouth above the water, swallows the atmo- 

 spheric air. 



While the gourami is essentially a vegetarian, and its 

 diet is indicated by the extremely elongated intestinal 

 22 



