61 



THE FIS1I FOE THE 



SOmest fish for an Aquarium, and at the same time it i s 

 easy of domestication. This beautiful creature is a native 

 of China, though common in this country. It is now to 

 be caught in the Schuylkill Hirer, just above Philadelphia, 

 into which stream it has escaped from some pond, and 

 increased greatly in numbers, size, and beauty— fish which 

 breed in a semi-wild state always being of more bril- 

 liant color than those reared in confinement. The gold- 

 fish was made a pet long before it was introduced into 

 Europe: almost every Chinese mandarin having had a tank 

 of them in his garden, where he could sit, smoke his pipe, 

 and watch the gambols of the fish. The gold-fish, however' 

 that are exposed for sale here and in Europe, do not, of 

 course, come from China, but arc bred for sale in tanks and 

 mill-ponds; thus, in the north of England, they multiply in 

 great numbers in mill-dams, the streams of which being sup- 

 plied from or having flowing into them the refuse waters 

 of many steam-engines, are at all times of tepid warmth 

 and, indeed, sometimes the temperature rises as high as 80° 

 Fahrenheit, The fish in these waters arc the most prolific 

 but not so long-lived as others. Difference of situation has 

 been observed to affect the gold-fish in a remarkable de- 

 gree; thus, in running streams, black spots make their 

 appearance upon them ; and in other situations, other as 

 strange metamorphoses take place. The gold carp is not 

 the only fish that can bear so high a temperature as 80° 

 for perch and mullet have been found by Do Saussure in 

 water heated to 89°, and live eels were found by the 

 same naturalist in water heated as high as 113°. Many 

 fish will bear sudden changes of temperature. I have had 



