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NOTE IX. 



THE CARP. 

 (Cyprinus Carj>io.) 



" The well-grown Carp, full laden with her spawn." 



Fbancis Quahles. 



" The yellow Carp, in scales bedropp'd with gold.'" — -Pope. 



" Or on the Carp, whose wary eye 

 Admits no vulgar tackle nigh, 

 Essay your art's supreme address, 

 And beat the fox in sheer finesse." 



Translation of " Latin Ode to "Walton." 



Heee we have a member of another family of the Mala- 

 copterygii Order ("soft-finned" fish), — the Cijprinidce, 

 or Carps, whose chief characteristic is their toothless 

 jaws, though they have powerful teeth in their throats. 

 To this family also belong many of our fresh-water fish, 

 such as the barbel, the tench, the bream, &c, all of which 

 have the family name Cyprinus prefixed ichthyologically 

 to their second or more distinctive appellation. 



But our common carp — Chjprinus carpio — seems to 

 have been known to the ancients by the first title alone, 



