THE GOLDFISH AND ITS CULTURE. 13 
touch. The water-plants in the immediate vicinity of the place 
where the fish have been rolling about will, upon examination, be 
found covered very profusely with them. 
The young are hatched out in from two to six days, the period of 
incubation being determined by the temperature of the water and 
the condition of the weather. Direct sunlight has the effect of 
hastening the process. 
During the first few days the young fish are not able to move 
about much; they hang or lay about among the water-plants, obtain- 
ing subsistence from their yolk-bag, but as soon as this is absorbed 
they swim around on the search of something to eat. 
The color of the skin of young goldfish is at first silvery gray, but 
at an age of six weeks this color begins to change, becoming darker 
and assuming a cloudy appearance, finally taking on the permanent 
color. The whole process is sometimes completed in two days, 
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- or pearly-white, they are known 
as pearl-fish. 
The young, when kept in warm ponds—this means that the 
