130 



Aquatic mu 



Goldfish in China 



They're selling goldfish within the 

 shadow of the great gate of Shanghai 

 shown in the illustration. When Mr. 

 Erwin O. Freund, of the Chicago Aqua- 

 rium Society, told the editor of his inten- 

 tion to prowl through strange lands, he 

 was admonished to keep an eye open for 

 fishes and "make connections." Thus far, 

 in China, nothing has been found to make 

 an American goldfish fancier envious of 

 the Orient. The goldfishes seem little 



a missionary who has spent twenty years 

 in China. During this time the only gold- 

 fish she saw were common sorts brought 

 by the Chinese pupils to the teachers as 

 gifts. 



During our talk about fishes Miss 

 Wood told me of an interesting experi- 

 ence in Japan. During the Boxer upris- 

 ing in China many of the missionaries 

 were hurried out of the danger zone and 

 taken to Japan, her objective being Hako- 

 date. Here rooms were secured at one 



more than the average double-tails annu- 

 ally brought from the East in great quan- 

 tities by the Pacific coast importers. In 

 the streets of Shanghai itinerant dealers 

 offer the fishes in spherical globes, with 

 short, narrow neck, so small that a fish 

 can barely be dropped through ! Every 

 dealer sells Daphnia. 



China has ever been a land of mys- 

 teries, and no less so far as goldfish are 

 concerned. Peculiar forms have been 

 described as being bred there, but on 

 information so meagre that a doubt has 

 existed as to their being established 

 breeds. Mrs. Poyser recently entertained 



place and meals at another. One day, at 

 the restaurant, she was surprised to come 

 upon a gentleman, obviously an Ameri- 

 can, garbed in big hip boots, etcetera, and 

 looking anything but a tourist. She con- 

 cluded he was a farmer, but wondered 

 what an American farmer could be doing 

 in Japan. Later, when an opportunity 

 was afforded to ask the question, the gen- 

 tleman replied that he was sort of a 

 farmer, and extended an invitation to 

 view his produce — a collection of fishes! 

 Then the mystery was solved. The 

 farmer was David Starr Jordan. I won- 

 der if Doctor Jordan recalls this inci- 

 dent!—^. A. P. 



