THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. 581 



the development of fungus taking place in consequence of the emaciated condition 

 of the fish after wintering. We do not find this diseased condition in the fisli taken 

 out of the ponds for the fall and winter shipments. 



I am at a loss what remedy to suggest. It is possible that you may be able to 

 destroy it by immersing the fish for a few seconds in a brine, of course allowing them 

 to remain but a short time, and repeating the bath several times at intervals suffi- 

 cient to allow the fish to recuperate from the shock of the operation. 



According to European writers the carp in P^urope apparently does 

 not enjoy the wonderful immunity from parasites and from diseases 

 that it does in our waters. A few quotations will suffice to make this 

 clear. Seeley (1880, p. 98) says that in nature the carp lives 12 to 14 

 years, but survives much longer in confinement, though "subject to 

 many sicknesses, deformities, and wonderful variations.'" Veckenstedt 

 (1880, p. 673) remarks that diseases occur mostly to young carp; 

 "polypes render the fish unfit for its full development; tape-worms 

 constrict its intestines, make it lean, and finally kill it; lice torment it, 

 and produce dropsy.'' And on this subject Day (1880-1884, p. 1<J2) 

 writes: 



[It] is subject externally to fungoid growths, especially old carp; also the same 

 mosslike appearance occasionally attack young fish which reside in foul or snow 

 water, as well as blindness, epidemic; fevers, visceral obstructions due to over-gorging 

 on chickweed, ulcerations of the liver, malignant pustules under the scales termed 

 small-pox by fishermen, carbuncles, and intestinal worms. 



This difference on the two continents is probably in large part due 

 to the fact that the carp described by the European writers were 

 mostly fish whose ancestors for generations back were pond-raised 

 fish, and which, owing to their long domestication, were more sus- 

 ceptible to the attacks of parasites and disease. These authors do not 

 state what is the condition in the fish of the open waters of Europe in 

 comparison with those reared in ponds, except Seeley's statement that 

 carp kept in confinement are more subject to "sicknesses, deformities, 

 and wonderful variations." Neither do we know the condition in this 

 respect of those fish imported to the United States; hence it is difficult 

 to say whether the apparently almost complete immunity of the Lake 

 Erie carp is due to the fact that the fish originally brought to this 

 country were practically free from parasites, so that few have been 

 handed on to their descendants, whether it is due simply to the free, 

 active life of the fish, or whether there is something peculiarly favor- 

 able to the fish in the conditions of our waters. The last seeius to me 

 likel}^ to be the most important factor — that the conditions which have 

 allowed such a phenomenal increase in the numbei-s of the fish have 

 produced a hardy strain which is more than ordinarily resistant to the 

 diseases that normally attack the species. 



Professor Prince, commissioner of fisheries in Canada, makes special 

 point against the carp on the ground of its susceptibility to diseases 

 and parasites, and in a paper in which he strongly urges Canadians 



