HISTORY AND ANATOMY OF THE GO LDFISH 



they were not generally known till 1728, when a large number were brought 

 over in the Houghton Indiaman, Captain Philip Worth, and presented by 

 him to Sir Mathew Decker; since when they have been propagated in 

 ponds in the neighborhood of London. They may now be esteemed a 

 domestic fish." 



Edward's colored engravings show five fishes having the general con- 

 formation of the ordinary goldfish but with double anal fins; one of blue 

 color on the back and red sides; one all red with a "spiked" dorsal fin of 

 four rays; one red and white with a distinctly "webbed" tail; and one 

 having a brown back, white sides and red abdomen. All have the relative 

 length of body, head and eyes of the common goldfish. 



Dr. Elieser Bloch, in Ichthiologie, edition of 1784, describes the gold- 

 fish and mentions some kept alive by him in Germany. Three illustrations 

 accompany the article. In a later volume there is one other illustration 

 of which both the description and the appearance would lead to the infer- 

 ence that it was a native Chinese fish and the probable progenitor of the 

 Chinese Telescope goldfish and its kindred varieties. His is an interesting 

 description, part fact, part fancy, but worthy of reproduction here. Of the 

 first-named three fishes. No. i is described as follows: — 



"The head is of moderate length, the nostrils near the eyes, which have a dark star in a 

 golden ring, the rest of the head being of a golden color; and the operculae consist of two blades. 

 The back is rounded and several black spots are noticeable. On the sides it is red with gold, 

 and the abdomen reddish mixed with silver. Large scales cover the body. The sides are nar- 

 row and straight. The fins of the sides are carmine and the tail forked. I know of no fish of 

 which the fins are more varied, as I have one which has a small dorsal of nine spines, others 

 with it entirely absent; another has in place of the dorsal only a hump and a third two of these 

 humps. One of these fishes has a double anal fin and a forked tail; with another the tail is un- 

 usually long and all the other fins relatively very much longer than usual. The double anal fins 

 stand side by side, and the superfluous lobe of the tail grows in the centre. It would appear 

 that the tendency of the absence of one fin occasions the duplication of another, which may have 

 given rise to the culture of the fish. Remarkable is the fact that its color changes with age. In 

 the first year it is usually black, a color which Nature often produces in minerals and quadrupeds, 

 more seldom in insects, birds and plants, and never with fishes except these. After the' first year 

 silver spots usually appear which gradually extend in size until the fish assumes a silver grey 

 appearance, after which it becomes, red and more beautiful the older it grows; though it some- 

 times happens that after the red it assumes a permanent silver color. Occasionally it is red from 



infancy The fish possesses a brilliancy which is astonishing, as it throws a lustre from the glass 



of water wherein I kept it, like that of a glowing coal in the dark; but my pleasure did not last 

 long, for after death, it was in spirits but a few days before the color disappeared, a circumstance 

 which would indicate that the color is produced by a delicate mucus (slime) which covers the 

 fish, as the spirits assume a red color as the fish lost it; a similar occurrence to what I noticed with 

 the Schlampitzger, which lost its fine orange color on the abdomen as in holding it the mucus 

 came off on my hand. What further induced me to adhere to this opinion is that the fish retains 

 its color when dried or mounted, as the mucus dries on the surface and is preserved by the varnish. ' ' 



This is a strange combination of correct and of faulty observations, 

 interesting both on account of their antiquity and of the information 

 which they contain. 



