kut carf; 



Hhe Carp 



X HIS fpecies was Introduced, according to Fuller, into 

 Kiigland in the year 151 4, hj Leonard Alafcalj- ; but 

 before that time, we read a defcription of it in the book 

 of St, Alba?is, printed in 1496. It is by naeans of tran- 

 fportation that thej have been naturalifed in mofl coun-» 

 tries of Europe, as is the cafe in Sweden, Enghvid, and 

 France. They have not yet found their way into RuJJia^ 

 though Polijh Pi-uJJla, which is probably their native coun- 

 try, is at no great dillance : There they abound in all the 

 rivers and lakes, and are taken of fuch vafl fize, that 

 they have become a valuable article of commerce. The 

 merchants purchafe them from the lakes and rivers be- 

 longing to the Polijh Noblejfe, and tranfport them in 

 well-boats to Siveden and RuJJia. In imitation of them, 

 fome of the Engl'i/Jj gentry have begun to turn their filh- 

 ponds to account, by regularly felling their carp t- 



The carp is, perhaps, the mofl remarkable among the 

 fpinous fiihes for longevity : An inftance is recorded of 

 one in the palatinate of Germany, that lived an hundred 

 years in ih.efr)Jjee furrounding a fort |j. Their lite in fome 

 countries is faid to correfpond to this extraordinary lon- 

 gevity j feveral being taken iu tlie Lacus Lariiis^ of two 



hundred 



* Cyprinus Carpio, Ljn. Syfi:. La Carpe, Belon. 



f Britifli Worthies, Suffex, 113. \ Brit. Zool. gen. 40, 



U Gefner de pifcib. 2 1?. ft 



