THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. 581 
the development of fungus taking place in consequence of the emaciated condition 
of the fish after wintering. We do not find this diseased condition in the fish taken 
out of the ponds for the fall and winter shipments. 
Iam at a loss what remedy to suggest. It is possible that you may be able to 
destroy it by immersing the fish for a few seconds in a brine, of course allowing them 
to remain but a short time, and repeating the bath several times at intervals suffi- 
cient to allow the fish to recuperate from the shock of the operation. 
According to European writers the carp in Europe apparently does 
not enjoy the wonderful immunity from parasites and from diseases 
that it does in our waters. A few quotations will suffice to make this 
clear. Seeley (1886, p. 98) says that in nature the carp lives 12 to 14 
years, but survives much longer in confinement, though ‘‘subject to 
many sicknesses, deformities, and wonderful variations.” Veckenstedt 
(1880, p. 673) remarks that diseases occur mostly to young carp; 
‘‘polypes render the fish unfit for its full development; tape-worms 
constrict its intestines, make it lean, and finally kill it; lice torment it, 
and produce dropsy.” And on this subject Day (1880-1884, p. 162) 
writes: 
[It] is subject externally to fungoid growths, especially old carp; also the same 
mosslike appearance occasionally attack young fish which reside in foul or snow 
water, as well as blindness, epidemic fevers, visceral obstructions due to over-gorging 
on chickweed, ulcerations of the liver, malignant pustules under the scales termed 
emall-pox by fishermen, carbuncles, and intestinal worms. 
This difference on the two continents is probably in large part due 
to the fact that the carp described by the European writers were 
mostly fish whose ancestors for generations back were pond-raised 
fish, and which, owing to their long domestication, were more sus- 
ceptible to the attacks of parasites and disease. These authors do not 
state what is the condition in the fish of the open waters of Europe in 
comparison with those reared in ponds, except Seeley’s statement that 
arp kept in confinement are more subject to ‘‘sicknesses, deformities, 
and wonderful variations.” Neither do we know the condition in this 
respect of those fish imported to the United States; hence it is dificult 
to say whether the apparently almost complete immunity of the Lake 
Erie carp is due to the fact that the fish originally brought to this 
country were practically free from parasites, so that few have been 
handed on to their descendants, whether it is due simply to the free, 
active life of the fish, or whether there is something peculiarly favor- 
able to the fish in the conditions of our waters. The last seems to me 
likely to be the most important factor—that the conditions which have 
allowed such a phenomenal increase in the numbers of the fish have 
produced a hardy strain which is more than ordinarily resistant to the 
diseases that normally attack the species. 
Professor Prince, commissioner of fisheries in Canada, makes special 
point against the carp on the ground of its susceptibility to diseases 
and parasites, and in a paper in which he strongly urges Canadians 
