THE CAEP FAMILY. 99 



that fish have a very considerable perception of external 

 sounds. 



A rather annoying proof of the acute hearing at least of 

 the Carp species is nightly furnished me by the three indi- 

 viduals in my vivarium^ already referred to. Every evening, 

 when the bell is rung for family prayers, these fish com- 

 mence springing and splashing about in the water, con- 

 tinuing their efibrts for five or ten minutes with a noise 

 and vivacity exceedingly distracting to the attention, and 

 in the highest degree indecorous. 



The Carp was a well-known fish in the times of the 

 ancient Greeks and Romans, though apparently held in no 

 very high estimation. It is mentioned by Aristotle and 

 Pliny, the former naming it Kuprinos, or Kuprianos, from 

 whence probably originated the Latin term Cyprinus, 

 and also the modem appellations Karp (Swedish), Karpfe 

 (German), Carp, Karpe, and Carpe (English, Danish, and 

 French), Carpa (Spanish), and Carpione (Italian). 



When, and whence, the Carp was first brought into this 

 country — if indeed it was really an introduced fish at all — 

 is involved in obscurity. Leonard MascaU, a gentleman 

 of Sussex, claims to have been the importer both of the 

 Carp and of the Pippin ; but MascaU's time was 1600, whilst 

 numerous notices of the Carp appear nearly a century be- 

 fore that date. The old couplet quoted by Izaak Walton — 



" Hops and turkeys, carps and beer, 

 Came into England all in a year " — 



appears also to have been written under a poetic license ; 



r2 



