Fish Maladies 331 



A malady of rather frequent occurrence 

 is designated as dropsy. Not all fishes are 

 subject to it, but fantail and other breeds 

 of gold fish, and also Macropodes fall vic- 

 tims to it. One of the first symptoms of 

 the complaint is a peculiar position of the 

 scales. They appear to spread, and instead 

 of forming the usual smooth coating, they 

 stand off from the body and seem to be loose. 

 The color fades and a covering not unlike 

 minute pearls is noticeable, first on the tail 

 and afterwards all over the body. This ap- 

 pearance is evidently caused by the position 

 of the scales. Gradually the whole body 

 expands and, after continued suffering, 

 death relieves the sick fish. What causes 

 this peculiar sickness has not been finally 

 and conclusively determined. Some aqua- 

 rists hold the scarcity of oxygen in the water 

 responsible, others blame unsuitable nourish- 

 ment. The attempts to cure dropsy have 

 been successful only when made in the very 

 first stages of the disease. The transfer- 



