FISHES. 365 



In the construction and management of fish-ponds, there 

 are many circumstances of a local nature which it is impos- 

 sible here to specify *. The methods employed to stock 

 these ponds are at present more deserving of our attention. 

 The first, and certainly the most obvious method, is to ob- 

 tain living fish from similar situations. In catching these, 

 the utmost care should be taken not to bruise them, or to 

 rub off their scales, and to keep them as short a time out of 

 the water as possible. The vessels in which they are to be 

 carried should be full of water, as when the barrel is not 

 entirely full, the fish are liable to be driven by the currents 

 against the lid or sides. This transportation should take 

 place only in cold weather, and in the winter season (as 

 fishes can bear cold better than heat), and should be per- 

 formed with as much expedition as circumstances will per- 

 mit. 



The second method of stocking fish-ponds, is, in some 

 respects, preferable to the preceding, especially when the 

 waters are at a distance from which the supply is to be de- 

 rived. This consists in ascertaining those places in which 

 the spawn of the wished-for species is deposited, and con- 

 veying the impregnated eggs to a similar situation in the 

 new ponds. In this manner a vast number of individuals 

 may be obtained at once, and with great certainty of suc- 

 cess, provided they are supplied during the journey with 

 fresh water, and but little agitated. The impregnated eggs 

 may be known by a small aperture, which may be detected 

 on one side by means of a good microscope, and which is 

 scarcely perceptible previous to impregnation. By means 

 of this method, however, a much longer period must elapse 

 before fish are procured for the table than by the former, 



gee Phil. Trans. 1771, p, 310. ; and North's History of Esculent 

 Fish, Lond. 4to. 1794. 



