AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 441 



showing the least fear. They are very tenacious of life, and live 

 a long time out of the water. I have crossed them with the gold 

 ■ fish, or Chinese carp, and produced a great variety of colors. As 

 soon as the ice forms in tlie fall, they disappear in the mud, and 

 as they are not afterwards seen, probably remain dormant in our 

 cold climate all winter. 



In Prussia, Germany and Saxony^ carp are cultivated with 

 great attention, and constitute a part of the revenue of the nobility. 

 There is no reason why they might not be made profitable here. 

 Fish are like hens, in one respect, that is, they never deposit all 

 their spawn at one time, but at several periods, weeks often inter- 

 vening, according to its maturity. 



The Gold Fish, {Cyjirirnis Aiiratus,) or Golden Carp — are the 

 most beautiful and interesting fish in my waters, where they 

 are only kept as ornaments, as they are not celebrated for their 

 qualities as food. The extreme elegance of their form and 

 scaly dress, and tlie agility and grace with which they move 

 tlirough their native element, cause them to be ranked among my 

 most charming pets. They are always the first on hand at the 

 ringing of the bell, and are even more gentle and confiding than 

 the carp. I have noticed, that by a proper diet, I can increase 

 the intensity of their color, change their external characteristics, 

 improve the rotundity of their form, and add much to their size; 

 and, what is more surprising than all, those characters become 

 heriditary in their ofispring. 



The Sun Fish are known as the American Carp, tliougli tiiey 

 will not intermingle with either of the other varieties, European 

 or Chinese, which they much resemble in habits, with one excep- 

 tion, and that is, they build nests in the gravel to dej^osit their 

 ova, over which they watch with unceasing vigilance, and cannot 

 be induced to leave even for food; when the other fish are eating 

 bread in their immediate vicinity, they appear to be unconscious 

 of the fact, and chase them if they happen to come too near their 

 sacred charge, showing every indication of extreme anger, by dis- 

 tending their gill covers, elevating their fins, &c. 



The Pike, {Esox Lucius.) — I have a large pond devoted to tliis 

 fish, in which they abound to so great an extent, that I might sup- 



