GOLD FISH. 211 



natural size, or is divided into several lobes ; in 

 others the eyes protrude, and are very much swollen. 

 In the Cambridge Museum, however, is a specimen 

 so extremely monstrous, and whimsical in shape and 

 general appearance, as to deserve a more detailed 

 notice. This individual came direct from China, 

 and formed part of a collection made in that country 

 by the late Rev. George Vachell, Chaplain to the 

 British Factory at Canton, and presented by him to 

 the Cambridge Philosophical Society. 



Its chief peculiarity is its form, which almost 

 approaches to globular, at least below, like that of 

 the genus Diodon. This arises from the extreme 

 rotundity and protuberance of the abdomen ; the 

 back being at the same time slightly arched, more 

 especially behind, and the fleshy part of the tail as 

 if entirely cut away ; the caudal fin being set on a 

 little behind the dorsal, and immediately above the 

 anal. This gives the posterior part of the body an 

 unusually blunt and truncated appearance. The 

 caudal itself is very large, double, but the two por- 

 tions united at top, and folding double, in a vertical 

 direction, like the tail-feathers of the common fowl. 

 The dorsal is single, and has nothing very remarkable 

 in it. The anal is double like the caudal, but much 

 smaller than that fin, and so directly beneath it as 

 almost to be concealed within its folds : also, from 

 the extreme convexity of the abdomen, the line of 

 its base, where the rays unite with the body, is 

 actually vertical. The pectorals and ventrals are 

 much as in other examples, though rather longer, 

 and -more pointed, than usual. There is nothing 



