5814 Notes of a Residence in Vienna. 



included. I once ordered it : the mollusks were instantly forth- 

 coming, and I tasted but did not finish the dainty. In the neigh- 

 bouring Lake of Neusiedler-see, a fresh-water turtle, Emys europaea, 

 is taken in considerable numbers. I frequently saw these animals in 

 the laboratory of my friend Professor Brticke, who considers them, for 

 physiological researches, far better adapted than even that physiolo- 

 gist's reptile, the frog, and was always kept supplied with specimens 

 by the fishermen of the neighbourhood. 



On Fridays, and especially during Lent, a fish-market is held in 

 that part of the town which borders upon the small arm of the 

 Danube, and is abundantly supplied by the produce of that river. 

 The fish are brought to the spot in immense casks, alive, and are de- 

 posited in large shallow tubs, like washing-tubs. Here they may be 

 seen in all conditions, active, lively, dead and dying. The staple of 

 the market is the Danubian carp (Cyprinus carpio), called " Donan- 

 karpfen " or " Flusskarpfen," a handsome fish with large scales of a 

 golden tinge. They are on an average a foot long, very lively, and 

 cut very red. Such a fish sells for 20 to 25 kreutzer, Sd. to lOd. 

 English. Great numbers of tubs contain nothing but this fish, some- 

 times 18 inches long. They are very tenacious of life, and possess 

 great irritability : when taken away whole, they require many blows 

 on the head with a heavy weight before they are quite motionless ; 

 and when one is rapidly cut in halves, by being ripped up along 

 the back and belly, I have seen its movements continue even after 

 the separation has been complete. Next to the Danubian carp the 

 most common fish is the pike or " Hecht " (Esox lucius), which ave- 

 rages 18 inches long. With their characteristic heaviness, they 

 remain quite quiet in the tub, in spite of the inconvenient activity of 

 the lively and un wieldly carp. A pike about 16 inches long is sold 

 for 30 kreutzer (about Is.) These two fishes constitute about nine- 

 tenths of the market; but there is one other fish which deserves men- 

 tion. In about every tenth tub of carp and pike there may be seen a 

 fish in form like a carp indeed, but whose monstrous, shapeless scales 

 attract immediate attention. This is the large-scaled carp figured by 

 Bloch as Rex Cyprinorum. In general the scales of this fish, which 

 are very irregular, are arranged in two rows on each side, one parallel 

 with the back and the other with the abdomen. Bloch supposes it to 

 be a distinct variety, but more generally it is considered to be a mule 

 between the carp and the tench, for the minute scales which exist, 

 mingled in patches, among the immense scales of the carp, resemble 

 very greatly those of the tench. In flavour it is superior to the com- 



