108 



ANGLING. 



idea, no doubt an erroneous one, that the 10th of 

 April is a fatal day for carp. 



The beautiful and almost domesticated species 

 called par excellence the gold-fish, is likewise a 

 species of Cyprinus, C. auratus of Naturalists. 

 It is the most brilliantly adorned of all our fresh 

 water fishes, and is indeed scarcely surpassed even 

 by the more richly ornamented inhabitants of the 

 ocean. It was originally a native of China, al- 

 though now domesticated, so to speak, in almost 

 every country, both of the old and new world. Like 

 the carp it has the dorsal and anal fins denticulated. 

 When young it is of a blackish hue, and gradually 

 acquires the splendid golden red colour by which 

 it is usually characterised. The silver fish com- 

 monly so called, is the same species, with a dif- 

 ference merely in the metallic tinting. Indeed, 

 like most other creatures long estranged by captivity 

 from their natural habits, and subjected to artificial 

 influences, the golden carp exhibits innumerable 

 varieties both in form and colour. M. Sauvigny 

 has represented eighty-nine of these, manifesting 

 all shades of silvery white and purple, orange, red, 

 and gold.* These variations extend even to some 

 important parts of structure. Individuals occur 

 without a dorsal fin, others with an unusually large 

 one, some with the caudal fin greatly increased in 

 size, and divided into three or four lobes. In 

 certain cases the eyes are enormously dilated. 



* Histoire Naturelledes Dorades de la Chine.) Paris, 1780. 



