26 THE GOLDFISH 



they arc. An amusing incident illustrating this point occurred in the 

 preparation of the present volume. An engraver who made a 

 plate of a goldfish billed the publishers with "One Cut of Butterfly" ! 

 Those outside the fancy sometimes seriously refer to the fins of fancy 

 specimens as "wings." Among fanciers a high dorsal fin is often 

 referred to as the "sail." 



When it is borne in mind what a considerable period of time must 

 have been necessary to bring about these strange breeds, it is not sur- 

 prising that racial ideas and characteristics should, to a certain degree, 

 be expressed in them. The Telescope Goldfish was originated in 

 China and undoubtedly bears a resemblance to Chinese art. It has a 

 sort of beautiful ugliness, a deliberate grotesqueness, intended first to 

 shock and then excite curiosity. The wonderful range of colors, too, 

 suggests the art of the Chinese — that race which continues today to 

 lead the world in the clever use of color. The Japanese Fringetail 

 Goldfish is another expression of national art. It is the very embodi- 

 ment of that aesthetic elegance and grace so well understood by the 

 Japanese people. America has not been without its logical contribu- 

 tion. Here in this vast melting pot it is our desire to bring forth com- 

 binations of the best from the old worlds, to which is added a touch of 

 our own individuality. Although we have made several other com- 

 binations in crosses, the most important is the beautiful Scaleless 

 Fringetail. European aquarists have not as a rule developed fancy 

 goldfish breeding to the point it has been carried in America. Their 

 interests, particularly among the Germans, are centered in tropical 

 fishes, in which specialty they easily lead the world, although their 

 leadership has been greatly impaired by the immediate and subsequent 

 eft'ects of the great war. In the Veiltail Telescope, the most important 

 breed in this country, American breeders have virtually created a new 

 class, although none of the separate points are of our own develop- 

 ment. We have combined the short body and long fins of the Japanese 

 Fringetail with the Chinese eyes, and colors. The broad, square tails 

 seem to come from the Chinese side, but so far as we know thev did 

 not especially breed for this point nor for length in connection with it. 



It is believed that the first cultivated goldfishes came from Korea, 

 that country from which even ancient China borrowed ideas, educa- 

 tion and arts, but so little is known of this that we have to take our 

 facts as we now find them. That there have been and are breeds of 

 goldfishes in both China and Japan which have never been exported is 

 well attested by travelers and by a book published in Paris in 1780, 

 by de Sauvigny. This remarkably illustrated work shows many of 

 the varieties in color. The only known copy in the United States is 



