180 



COMMON CARP. 



1514, and into Denmark in "the year 1560, It 

 is said to decrease in size the farther it is re- 

 moved into a northern region. The usual length 

 of the Carp in our own country is from about 

 twelve to fifteen or sixteen inches ; but in warmer 

 climates it often arrives at the length of two, three, 

 or four feet, and the weight of twenty, thirty, or 

 even forty pounds. Its general colour is a yellowish 

 olive, much deeper or browner on the back, and 

 accompanied w4th a slightly gilded tinge on the 

 sides : the scales are large, rounded, and very dis- 

 tinct : the head is large, and the mouth furnished 

 on each side with a moderately long cirrus or beard, 

 and above the nostrils is a much smaller and shorter 

 pair : the lateral line is slightly curved, and marked 

 by a row of blackish specks : the fms are violet- 

 brown, except the anal, which has a reddish tinge : 

 the dorsal fin is broad or continued to some distance 

 from the middle of the back towards the tail, which 

 is slightly forked, with rounded lobes. 



The usual food of the Carp consists of worms 

 and water-insects : it is a fish so tenacious of life 

 that it may be kept for a very considerable time in 

 any damp place, though not immersed in water, 

 and it is said to be sometimes fattened with success 

 by being enveloped in wet moss, suspended in a 

 net, and fed at intervals with bread steeped in milk, 

 taking care to refresh the animal now and then by 

 throwing fresh water over the net in which it is 

 suspended. 



The Carp is an extremely prolific fish, and the 

 quantity of roe is so great that it is s^id to have 



