Fishes— MollusJcs. 5009 



The Carp at Charlottenburg. — In the large fish-pond of the Royal Park of 

 Charlottenburg, near Berlin, are some immense carp (Cyprinus carpio), which are 

 celebrated throughout Germany. These fishes are great favourites with the Berliners, 

 who flock to this and similar places on Sundays and holidays, generally taking a 

 supply of bread and biscuit for the purpose of deriving amusement from watching the 

 huge creatures rolling over one another in their endeavours to catch the food. The 

 fishes usually collect in certain spots which are easily accessible to the people, who 

 throw to them pieces of bread half the size of the fist : these morsels are too large to 

 be readily gorged, and the sight of the wide mouths vainly endeavouring to seize the 

 food, together with the frequent appearance of a "back like a saw," affords high 

 amusement to the spectators. Tlu keepers assert these fishes to be of a great age, 

 none less than fifty or sixty years, while they will not hesitate to assure you that some 

 patriarchs of the pond have completed their second century, in confirmation of which 

 they point to their backs, which often present an appearance not unlike the growth of 

 Achyla prolifera, that Conferva so inimical to piscine longevity. This is commonly 

 believed by the populace to be moss, and the presence and abundance of it to be 

 indicative of age ; so that it is not uncommon when an extra large fish, with an 

 unusual amount of this wavy confervoid-looking substance on his back, appears, to 

 hear the wondering exclamation, " Look now, at the moss on his back! What an old 

 fish he must be!" followed by speculations as to the number of half-centuries the 

 venerable monster may have attained. In more than one place a bell is hung, which, 

 if it ever were used to call the fish to dinner, is certainly superfluous now, for no 

 restriction is placed upon the ringing of it, and it may be heard at all hours, 

 particularly on holidays, when dinner-time is all day long, and the bell accordingly 

 rings from morning till night. — Cuthbert Collingwood ; Blachheath Park. 



Notes on the Oxfordshire Shells. By the Rev. Alfred Merle 



Norman, B.A. 



(Continued from page 4129.) 



Since the publication of my " Notes on the Oxfordshire Shells" 

 in the < Zoologist' for ,1853 (Zool. 3764, 4126), I have only spent 

 about three weeks in the county, and therefore have had little oppor- 

 tunity of adding to my list personally. Mr. J. F. Whiteaves, however, 

 has during the last three years given much time and trouble to 

 thoroughly examining the neighbourhood of Oxford, with regard to 

 its Conchology ; he has consequently met with much success, and 

 added many interesting species to the local Fauna. While at Oxford, 

 during the autumn of 1855, 1 had the pleasure of visiting, with 

 Mr. Whiteaves, two of the spots he had found most productive, 

 namely, Stow Wood and Woodeaton : on those occasions I took alive 

 many mollusks I had not before met with in the county, but they are 

 Mr. Whiteaves' discoveries, not my own. 



XV. 2 M 



