PISCES—-CARP...ROACH. 739 
THE GOLDEN CARP. 

Tuis is the common gold fish, which are now domesticated in ar nouses 
and fish ponds. They were originally brought from Southern Cnina, and 
were not generally known in England or America, before the early part of 
the last century. 
In China, the most beautiful kinds are taken in a small lake in the province 
of Che-Kyang. Every person of fashion keeps them for amusement, either 
in porcelain vessels, or in the small basons that decorate the courts of the 
Chinese houses. The beauty of their colors, and their lively motions, give 
great entertainment, especially to the ladies, whose pleasures, by reason of 
the cruel policy of that country, are extremely limited. 
In the form of the body, they bear a great resemblance toa carp. They 
have been known in Europe to arrive at the length of eight inches; in 
their native place, they are said to grow to the size of our largest herring. 
The nostrils are tubular, and form a sort of appendages above the nose; 
the dorsal fin and the tail vary greatly in shape; the tail is naturally bifid, 
but in many it is trifid, and in some even quadrifid; the anal fins are the 
strongest characters of this species, being placed not behind one another, 
like those of other fish, but opposite each other, like the ventral fins. 

THE ROACH, 

‘Sounp as a roach,’ is a proverb that appears to be but indifferently found- 
ed, that fish being not more distinguished for its vivacity than many others; 
yet it is used by the French as well as the English, who compare people of 
= 

Cyprinus auratus, Lin. 
* Leuciscus rutilus, Cuv. The genus Leuciscus has the dorsal and ana, fins shert, ané 
destitute of spines and cirrhi, 
