AA, 
THE GOLDFISH AND ITS CULTURE, 131 
TUBERCULOSIS OR CONSUMPTION, 
The first sign of the presence of this disease shows itself 
in the indifference manifested by the affected individual. 
They are seen swimming about in a careless, purposeless way, 
now and then stopping to make the vain attempt to remove 
something from their gills that annoys them. They are appar- 
ently coughing. Their appetite decreases. It is evident that 
the gills are out of order, they thus failing to take up oxygen 
for the blood. 
As the disease progresses, the fish becomes lean, as seen 
back of the head, on the back, and the sinking in the abdo- 
men, causing the head to appear too large and out of pro- 
portion. The gills become agglutinated which results in the 
destruction of their structure by decay. Having arrived at 
this stage the fish is too weak to balance itself and swims 
head downward, finally standing on it, because it is the heaviest 
part of its body, and dies in that position. 
The duration of this disease varies in different individuals 
and seasons, it being of shorter duration during cold weather. 
The origin of this disease may be traced back to znnat- 
ural treatment while in captivity, as fish in native waters never 
get it, and in well managed aquaria they very seldom have 
it, while in those badly managed they frequently die of this 
disease. The cause of the disease arises from invisible or- 
ganisms called tubercular baccille, these being inhaled by a fish 
whose breathing apparatus is in the least out of order, infest 
these organs and destroy them. 
The disease proves fatal in all cases, or has invariably 
done so in the writer’s experience, who has so far failed to 
discover an effective remedy. The disease may be avoided 
by keeping the aquarium in perfect condition. 
