OF SELBORNE. 105 



changeable variety of dimensions, shades, 

 and colours: while the two mediums, 

 assisted by the concavo-convex shape of 

 the vessel, magnify and distort them vastly; 

 not to mention that the introduction of 

 another element and its inhabitants into 

 our parlours engages the fancy in a very 

 agreeable manner. 



Gold and silver fishes, though originally 

 natives of China and Japan, yet are be- 

 come so well reconciled to our climate as 

 to thrive and multiply very fast in our 

 ponds and stews. Linnceus ranks this 

 species offish under the genus of ci/prinus, 

 or carp, and calls it cyprinus auratus. 



Some people exhibit this sort of fish in a 

 very fanciful way ; for they cause a glass 

 bowl to be blown with a large hollow space 

 within, that does not communicate with it. 

 In this cavity they put a bird occasionally ; 

 so that you may see a goldfinch or a linnet 

 hopping as it were in the midst of the 

 water, and the fishes swimming in a circle 

 round it. The simple exhibition of the 

 fishes is agreeable and pleasant ; but in 



