100 
aquarium fishes, often ensuing after the intro- 
duction of new plants or fishes into a previously 
healthy tank; or it may be caused by poor condi- 
tions in the aquarium,—too many fishes, or 
too much food given in a small tank where 
there is not enough swimming space for the 
fishes to exercise. The trouble is highly contagi- 
ous. 
For fin congestion give daily baths—perman- 
ganate baths in weak solution, or all day salt 
baths. The ammonia treatment may also be used 
as an adjunct to salt or permanganate baths. 
When the tail is affected remove the fish 
from the water, keeping its gills moist with 
a wet cloth or sponge, and if the trouble is 
slight, hold the tail in a 10 percent. solution 
of peroxide of hydrogen for two or three min- 
utes. If the tail is stringy, hold it for half a 
minute in a 50 percent. solution of peroxide, or a 
50 percent. solution of kerosene oil, or a strong 
solution of potassium permanganate. Repeat 
this treatment for several days in succession. 
The rotted portions will drop off, or they can be 
removed by cutting. Mr. William E. Meehan 
has found an effective remedy in turpentine, 
dipping the affected tail into turpentine and then 
into phenol sodique daily until cured. 
Cotps or Git~ CONGESTION 
(Atso Catrep Ginn Fever) 
This trouble in infant specimens has already 
been treated under Goldfish (The Fry). 
Gill congestion in older fishes is often caused 
by parasites, which many fishes rid themselves 
of by sifting fine sand through the gills, tak- 
ing it into the mouth and briskly ejecting it 
backward. The gills may become pale and 
swollen when the fish has taken cold, and a half 
hour’s salt bath is most helpful, repeating daily 
or oftener. Fever may be reduced by giving 
the specimen a bath in a solution of eight drops 
of sweet spirits of nitre in a gallon of water. 
Feed ailing specimens twice a day with nour- 
ishing foods such as scraped beef or lamb, or 
chopped oyster, and, if procurable, small pond 
snails or crustaceans. 
Any serious affection of the gills is fatal, but 
a valuable fish is always worth bothering with, 
and there is some satisfaction in knowing that 
one has not allowed an animal to die without 
earnest effort to save it. 
INDIGESTION 
The fish may become dizzy, lose its equil- 
ibrium, and stand on its head indefinitely, or 
lie on the bottom of the aquarium; and _ its 
ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 
abdomen may appear swollen—all symptoms of 
digestive disturbances. 
For this trouble, all day salt treatment has 
been found beneficial; also ammonia baths and a 
slight raising of the water temperature. Castor 
oil may be given by soaking some food in the 
oil or removing the specimen and dropping four 
or five drops down its throat. Otherwise, food 
may be omitted for three days, or, in bad cases, 
for a week. In the case of tropical toy fishes, 
which nibble continually at the plants and find 
food in the algae of the aquarium, regular feed- 
ing may be omitted for ten days. 
The general belief is that too much feeding 
with prepared foods and too little with animal 
food, causes this trouble. 
In case of any sickness in which indigestion 
is suspected as a contributory cause, it is well 
to discontinue feeding for several days or a 
week. Fishes will live longer with no food than 
with too much of it. 
GENERALLY INcURABLE DISORDERS 
Swim-Bladder Trouble: The fish loses the 
power to maintain its equilibrium for longer and 
longer periods, remains indefinitely at the top 
or bottom of the tank, or swims in a lop-sided 
fashion. The same remedies may be tried as 
for indigestion, with which this trouble is 
sometimes confounded. Placing the fish in 
warm shallow water (60 degrees to 75 degrees 
for goldfish, 85 to 90 degrees for tropicals) is 
thought to give relief. 
Consumption is manifested by the thin sides 
and seemingly enlarged head of the specimen, 
sunken eyes, loss of appetite, listlessness, ete. 
General wrong conditions or internal parasites 
may cause it. A meat diet may be tried, but 
no cure is known unless it be to place the fish 
in an open pond and let Nature take care of it. 
Dropsy reveals its presence in the bloated ap- 
pearance and distended scales of the fish, little 
gas bubbles sometimes forming on the exterior. 
It is supposed to be caused by a disordered 
liver, and while the disease is generally fatal, 
there are certain remedies that one may have 
the satisfaction of trying. Salt baths appear to 
give relief, and tapping has been tried by in- 
serting a needle just under the scales above the 
ventral fin on each side, in an upward direction. 
Mark Samuel suggests that as the disease does 
not kill till it reaches the brain, the fish may 
be made more comfortable by placing it in a 
solution of five to ten drops of digitalis to a gal- 
lon of water. This treatment is even reputed to 
have effected an occasional cure. 
