CARP 



349 



they have been thawed out and become as active as ever without any apparent 

 injury. This experiment was undertaken to test Sir John Richardson's 

 statement that when fishing during Franklin's first expedition the fish froze as 

 they were taken out of the water so that by a blow or two of the hatchet they 

 were easily split open, leaving the intestines removable in one lump, and yel 

 retained their vitality to such a degree that the narrator saw a thawed carp recover 

 so far as to leap about with much vigour after being frozen for thirty-six 

 hours. Carp are occasionally found alive in almost dry pools, and they lie dormant 

 throughout the winter in every country in Europe. According to Hessel, they 



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have been found huddled together in concentric circles with their heads close up 

 to one another in the centre and the tails raised. Several breeds have been formed 

 in Bohemia by cultivation in ponds: one of these being the leathery carp, which is 

 devoid of scales, and another the mirror carp, which has only one row of very large 

 scales on each side of its body, while yet others are the blue and the golden carps. 

 The crucian carp (Carassius vulgaris), of Europe and northern 

 Asia, differs by the absence of barbels, and also by a slightly notched 

 tail, straight lateral line, and arched back. This fish lives especially in stagnant 

 or slowly flowing waters with a soft bottom : and in small ponds develops into 

 the Prussian carp, which is more slender in form. 



Crucian Carp. 



