122 



Indian Cyprinidce. 



ling the irregularities of the bottom with sand, gravel and stones ; 

 there should be a current in the water, and to prevent the escape 

 of the fish, a grating should be fixed below; at the opposite end 

 a stronger grating, if necessary, to prevent the introduction of rub- 

 bish during floods, as well as the escape of the fish, should the fall 

 not be sufl[icient for the latter purpose." p. 347. Occasional re- 

 marks are found relating to the altitude at which fishes are known to 

 live in India. Speaking of the Oreinus guttatus. Dr. M'Clelland 

 observes, it is found " in rivers in different parts of Boutan, between 

 the elevation of two and five thousand feet. It may occur higher, 

 but Mr, Griffith remarks, that in valleys above five thousand feet, 

 though fine, clear streams are common, yet fishes of any kind do 

 not occur in them, and the natives assured the mission to which 

 he was attached, that no fish existed at such elevations." p. 345. 

 The Gonorhynchus petrophilus " inhabits streams in Kemaon at an 

 elevation of six thousand feet above the sea, and has been observed 

 by Lieut. Hutton at similar elevations in the mountains north of 

 Simla, as well as by Dr. Campbell in Nipal." p. 371. 



And again, " whether any other kind of fishes may yet be found 

 in still higher altitudes than those at which the Gonorhynchs and 

 Mountain Barbels disappear, is a problem in the distribution of this 

 class of animals, that travellers in the Himalaya and other lofty 

 regions must decide. In the limpid streams which Mr. Griffith passed 

 with Capt. Pemberton, at elevations of from six to eight thousand feet 

 in Boutan, no inhabitants were found ; and both here and at Simla, 

 as well as in Kemaon, the Gonorhynchs and Mountain Barbels have 

 not been found at greater altitudes than six thousand feet above the 

 level of the sea, where we may presume they disappear ; but from 

 that altitude downwards to the plain, they constitute the prevailing 

 forms that have hitherto been met with in the waters." p. 369. 



It is well known that several of the marine fishes, under peculiar 

 circumstances, produce derangement in the systems of those v/ho eat 

 them ; it appears that similar affections are the result of feeding 

 upon some of the Indian Cyprinidse. Thus we are told " that many 

 of the natives abstain from the use of the Cyprims cursis, imagining 

 that if eaten on the same day with milk it will occasion a disease 

 called elephantiasis." p. 329. 



