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The Perch spawns from March to May ; the eggs, 

 which hang together in bands like rows of beads on a coral 

 necklace, are very small at first, but gradually swell, and the 

 young fish escapes in from ten to twenty days according to 

 the temperature of the water. The eggs are deposited on 

 water plants and submerged boughs, and are then fer- 

 tilised by the milt of the male fish. 



The Loach spawns in December and January ; the eggs, 

 which are deposited on gravel in running water, hatch out 

 in from thirty to forty days. 



The Carp spawns in May and June ; the eggs are 

 deposited on water plants, and hatch out in from fourteen 

 to twenty days. There are three kinds of carp ; the 

 common carp, which is covered with large scales ; the 

 mirror carp, which has one row of very large scales along 

 the back, and another along the side, the rest of its 

 body being covered with a leather-like skin free from 

 scales ; and the leather carp in which scales are entirely 

 absent. Specimens of the two last-named fish, which are 

 not common in England, can be seen in the aquarium of 

 the Exhibition. 



The Tench is another powerful and handsome pond fish 

 which would well repay cultivation. It prefers stagnant 

 and weedy waters. Like the carp and eel it buries itself 

 in the mud in the cold months. Its food consists of larvae, 

 water plants, and worms. Like carp and all other muddy- 

 flavoured fish, it eats well, and loses the muddy flavour if 

 kept for a time in clear running water. It spawns from 

 May to July on water plants, and the young fish hatch out 

 in a week or ten days. 



The Gudgeon, Minnow, Loach, and Bullhead spawn 

 from May to July, selecting very shallow streams, and 

 depositing their eggs on the gravel and stones. These fish 



