THE GOLD-FISH. 109 



This magnificent fish is said to have been origi- 

 nally confined to a lake near the mountain Tsien- 

 king in the province of The-kiang, in .China, about 

 N. Lat. 30. They were first brought to Europe 

 in the seventeenth century (different years are 

 assigned by different authors), and continued very 

 rare in England till J 728, when a fresh accession was 

 received. The first seen in France were sent for 

 Madame Pompadour. The French have naturalised 

 them in the Mauritius, where they are now ex- 

 tremely common, both in artificial ponds and natural 

 streams, and are frequently served up as food. Por- 

 tugal abounds with them more than any other Euro- 

 pean country. With us they do not flourish well 

 either in rivers or open ponds, not so much because 

 such places are uncongenial to their nature, as on 

 account of their defenceless condition, and the 

 numerous enemies to which they are exposed. An 

 increase of warmth, however, is very influential in 

 relation to their productive powers, and they are 

 known to breed very freely in the engine-dams of 

 manufacturing districts, where the water has an 

 average temperature of about 80 degrees. They 

 are found, under these circumstances, in a kind of 

 water-cut, connected with the Clyde near Glasgow, 

 and may thus eventually become naturalised in that 

 river. " The extreme elegance of the form of the 

 golden carp, the splendour of their scaly covering, 

 the ease and agility of their movements, and the 

 facility with which they are kept alive in very 

 small vessels, place them amongst the most pleas- 



