100 



THE ANGLER-NATURALIST. 



for Carp are mentioned in the f Book of St. Albans/ the 

 earliest English work on Angling extant, published in 1481, 

 in which the authoress, Dame Juliana Berners, calls it a 

 " deyntous fish, although scarce/' whereas turkeys came 

 from America about 1521, and hops were unknown until 

 1$24. Therefore, notwithstanding the probability of some 

 of the varieties of the Carp having been introduced at one 

 time or another from Germany, or other part of the Con- 

 tinent, there seems to be every reason for believing that 

 the common Carp is an aboriginal of this country. 



The difference in the shape of the scales in the Carp 

 and in one of its principal varieties is shown in the en- 

 gravings. 



Crucian Carp. 



Common Carp. 



According to Ephemera*, Carp "in our rivers very 

 rarely reach the weight of 6 Ibs., and as seldom 12 Ibs. in 

 our ponds." I hold this to be an entirely erroneous view. 

 I am acquainted with many waters, both stagnant and run- 

 ning, in which the usual weights are greatly in excess of 

 those named ; the first instances that occur to my memory 

 * Notes to Ephemera's edition of Walton, p. 147. 



