nant places in these, and here and there a small 

 pool where they could be found in abundance. 



On one occasion, I got what 1 thought were 

 small colorless daphnia, but on a close examin- 

 ation I found they were something else and took 

 some to the late Dr. Joseph Leidy, who found 

 them to be a giant rotifer, identical with one 

 that had been found only once before, and that 

 in a duck pond in England. 1 have since seen it 

 among daphnia from the "Neck", but it can be 

 noticed only by very close observation, as it is 

 colorless. All other of the rotifera are of micro- 

 scopic size. 



In the beginning the transportation of the 

 new stock in 1889 by express from San Fran- 

 cisco was attended by total losses. Unsuccessful 

 attempts had also been made to ship them to 

 New Orleans, but by enlisting the interest of the 

 managers of the Wells Fargo and Adams Express 

 Companies, and devising a can which allowed 

 a view of the fish, but prevented them from 

 being stolen, and also providing for a change 

 of water if necessary, and making this obligatory 

 on the messengers, they soon came through 

 without serious loss until finally the losses were 

 not greater than attends shipments a short dis- 

 tance. 



It is certain that there were no straight tails 

 among the fish brought over by Mr. Gill and Ad- 

 miral Ammen, and although (in connection with 

 Mr. Ed. S. Schmid of Washington, D. C.,) we 

 brought over several thousands each winter for 

 a number of years until they became so common 

 that it was no longer profitable to handle them in 

 large numbers, I never saw a straight tail among 

 them. 



Commercially the name "Comet" ha$ no 

 meaning as it covers every length of tail over 

 the ordinary or normal. As celestial comets 

 have small as well as large tails, and even no 

 tails at all, the name need be no guarantee of 

 quality. 



Among the progeny of any fantail fish of any 

 variety, whether imported or bred here, there 

 will be a percentage of straight tails. The 

 natural tendency with finely bred stock of any 



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