94 THE ANGLEE-JSTATUEALIST. 



plate in the roof of tte throatj in front of which will be 

 found the soft fleshy mass commonly known as " Carp's 

 tongue ;" the real tongue, however, is placed as usual be- 

 tween the limbs of the mandible, and is small and incon- 

 spicuous. 



Although the Cyprinidx are ranged amongst the Soft- 

 finned fishes, many members of the family have one or more 

 of the rays of the dorsal or anal fin strong and pointed, 

 and toothed behind. These rays constitute a connecting 

 link between the Soft- and Spiny-finned Divisions, though 

 from the latter they are distinguishable by having the joints 

 of which they were originally formed still obscurely discern- 

 ible in the adult fish, whilst the spines in the Acanthopterygii 

 are constructed of only a single piece. The spines in the 

 latter are, besides, much more numeroiis. 



In the Salmon and Herring families the openings be- 

 tween the gills are equal in extent to the length of the 

 branchial or gill-arches, but in the Carps they are partially 

 closed by a membrane which retains moisture, and thus 

 keeps the gills longer in a condition to absorb oxygen 

 from the air — in other words, to breathe — than in the 

 above-named families ; a bountiful provision, doubtless to 

 enable the fish to siu'vive occasional droughts in hot cli- 

 mates. By this means also the fish can live for an un- 

 usually lengthened period entirely out of water — for so long, 

 indeed, that I have taken a basket of Carp a considerable 

 journey in a broiling August day, with no more moisture 

 than could be obtained from a damp cloth, and they have 



