472 LORD A. RtTSSELL ON THE COMMON CARP. [May 20, 



regarding these birds it is impossible to make any generalizations of 

 importance ; and I will leave the subject for a special paper on the 

 order. 



It is not until the different conditions of the carotid vessels are 

 taken in connexion with the pterylosis, as well as the anatomy of 

 the viscera and muscles, that a correct idea can be formed as to 

 their true value in the classification of birds. The work of the 

 illustrious Nitzsch assists much in this direction ; and it is to be 

 hoped that as facts become more numerous, ornithologists will realize 

 that a correct arrangement will not be arrived at until anatomy is 

 more thoroughly studied. 



In conclusion, I have to present my best thanks to Mr. Sclater 

 for the kind way in which he has on all occasions throughout this 

 inquiry assisted me with suggestions and advice — also to Prof. 

 Flower, Mr. O. Salvin, Mr. Sharpe, and Mr. Howard Saunders, for 

 their so willingly putting at my disposal specimens in spirit of 

 species which I should not otherwise have had the opportunity of 

 examining. 



May 20, 1873. 



Dr. E. Hamilton, V.P., in the Chair. 



Lord Arthur Russell, M.P., F.Z.S., exhibited a very young spe- 

 cimen of the scaleless variety of the Common Carp. He said that, 

 like all animals that are bred in captivity, carp are apt to vary in 

 form and colour. In Germany, where much attention is given to 

 fish-ponds on all large estates, the varieties of the carp are more 

 numerous than in other countries, and have been described by Bloch, 

 Heckel, and other ichthyologists as distinct species. One of the 

 most remarkable of the constant varieties of the carp was the one 

 known as " Spiegelkarpfen" {Gyprinus rex, cyprinorum, specularis 

 sive macrol epidotus). In this variety, which is exceedingly fine, the 

 scales only persist along the line of the back and on the sides of the fish 

 in two or three irregular rows. These few remaining scales attain a 

 great development ; the rest of the body is naked. Specimens in 

 which the scales only remain along the dorsal line go by the name 

 of Saddle-carp among Germau fishermen. Occasionally the scales 

 are wanting altogether, and the Carp is covered with a leathery skin, 

 and is popularly called " Lederkarpfen " or Leather-carp. This 

 variety has been described as a distinct species (G. nudus and 

 C. coriaceus), and is named by Agassiz Gyp. alepidotus. Heckel 

 ('Austrian Ichthyology,' p. 58) and other authors believe the total 

 loss of scales to be an effect of age on single specimens of the 

 Spiegel-carp variety in which the number of scales was already re- 

 duced to a minimum ; and the only interest of the little specimen 

 Lord A. Russell had brought with him was that it showed C. nudus 

 to be a constant variety, without scales from its birth. All these 

 varieties are considered better for the table than the common Carp, 

 and command a higher price in the German fish-market. The 



