652 Indian Cyprinidce. [August, 



forth comparatively few young ; whereas, the more profitable kinds, or 

 those which should be the object of our care, are all oviparous, and 

 bring forth their young from spawn. 



" A single female Carp weighing only nine pounds has been found by 

 Bloch to contain no less than six hundred thousand ova ; and by 

 Schneider, one, ten pounds weight, was found to contain seven hundred 

 thousand ova, or eggs. 



" The fecundity of the Ruee, Catla, and Mrigala, has not yet been 

 ascertained, but from their close affinity to the Carp we may suppose 

 them to correspond in this respect with that species ; the question 

 however, is one that may be easily ascertained by weighing a grain 

 of the roe and ascertaining the number of globules it contains, while 

 these will be to the whole roe what one grain is to its entire weight. 

 The result will show that these species are capable of yielding, by their 

 extraordinary fertility, a source of food as inexhaustible as the sands of 

 the ocean, could we only bring their propagation and the safety of 

 the young sufficiently within our control. 



" In the reservoirs above described, we have every facility for effecting 

 this object on a scale of great magnitude, without in any way inter- 

 fering with the other uses of the water. 



"There are certain kinds which though they cannot be said to be 

 carnivorous, would yet be still more fatal to our object by devouring 

 the spawn or ova, such are the Barbels, common in the higher parts 

 of our rivers, and which but for a knowledge of this trait in their 

 character would, from their appearance and flavour, be the first we 

 should recommend for propagation, and thus from an ignorance of 

 one simple fact, destroy every chance of success. We should not, 

 however, condemn all the Barbels merely from a fault in some of the 

 species, the circumstance should impress on our minds the necessity of 

 confining the varieties of fish in a single reservoir to the lowest 

 possible number of herbivorous kinds, such as the three I have men- 

 tioned, namely, Cyprinus rohita, Buch. Cyprinus catla, id. and Cypri- 

 nus mrigala, id. ; there is reason to believe that either of these species 

 would answer equally well in any part of the plains of India. As 

 they usually attain a large size, they may be slow in coming to 

 perfection, and, therefore, instead of having these three large species in 

 the same water, it would probably answer the purpose better to have 

 one of them only as a principal species, with any one of the common 

 Gudgeons or Bangons of India as a cheaper article, which would 



