T>F FISHES IN GENERAE.. 3y 



In populous countries, like China or Holland, where 

 every article of food is in requeR, and every, fpot of 

 ground is turned to account, great attention is paid to 

 the ftruclure and management of fiih ponds : There ex- 

 perience has taught men to afcert^in the quantity of eve- 

 ry kind of fifh, which any given fpacc of ivater can fup- 

 port. Ninety brace or carp, and forty of tench, may be 

 fupported in an acre of water ; a greater number v.'ould 

 languiPa and die. In tranfporting fifh from rivers into 

 ponds, it has been found that the young thrive much 

 better after tne operation, than the old ; for at that pe- 

 riod of life, they polTefs a power of more ealily accom- 

 modating themfelves to any change in their fitua- 

 tion. 



In fome parts of Germcwy, where the dcmeflicatlon of 

 fifh is pratliced, the ponds are conftruded in a fuite, one 

 adjoining another ; and, by means of a communication 

 bet'.veen them, they can empty the water of one pond, 

 together with the fifh, into another. After this is ac- 

 complifhed, the empty one is frequently plowed, and 

 fcwn with barley : When the grain is in the ear, the 

 w\ater, with its inhabitants, are again admitted to feed 

 upon the grain, and are tiius m.ore expeditioufly fattened 

 than by any other management. In all fi(h ponds, the 

 milters are the preferable fifn, for they become much 

 fatter than the fpawners. 



Fiih of different fpecles, as well as terreflrial animals, 

 are found capable of producing an offspring ; but their 

 crcfs breeding is a very obfcure article of their hiftory. 

 Few fpecies have hitherto been domefticated, and on thefe, 

 but a very fmali number of v/ell-attefled experiments 

 are known. A crofs breed is faid to be obtained between 

 the carp and the bream, and between the cf.rp and tench ; 



That 



