12 THE GOLDFISH AND ITS CULTURE. 
though in some instances it is deferred until the following spring. 
The perfection and rapidity of the coloring process depend upon 
several causes, foremost among which is the proper selection of 
specimens from which to breed. 
This is a very important consideration, in truth, the prime factor 
upon which hinges the character of the result. 
When hatched, the young fish are further subjected to modifica- 
tion by their surroundings, the temperature of the water, its depth, 
quality, etc., all exercising more or less influence. 
The complete result of the breeding, so far as the coloring is 
concerned, can not be seen until the change has taken place, when 
any errors that have been made are at once apparent. Those fish 
that have failed to receive any coloring are then called silver-fish ; 
should they have turned milky white (albinos), they are known as 
pearl-fish. 
The young, when kept in warm ponds—this means that the 
ponds are so located that the sun can warm them thoroughly—may 
grow six inches long in four months. As a general thing, however, 
the length reached in that time is from two and a half to three 
inches. 
In connection with this may be mentioned that all the young of 
the same spawning do not grow at an equal rate, some few doubling 
the average size, while others fail to reach it. The latter are then 
known as dwarf goldfish, and are much in demand for small aquaria. 
Deformities occur oftener in this family of fishes than in any 
other. Specimens minus a dorsal, anal, or even caudal fin, are 
frequent; rarer are those destitute of scales or minus an eye or with 
a lob-sided mouth. 
From the habit of the goldfish to seek its nourishment on the 
bottom of the pond in which it lives, and to its careless sluggishness, 
