LX VI 
surface. In Europe, carp are always taken to market alive, 
in tanks or barrels, and, if they are not sold, returned to 
the water alive at the end of the day. They are said to be 
kept alive in cellars in the winter, wrapped in wet moss and 
fed upon bread soaked in milk. Dr. Hessel once kept one 
this way live weeks. In cold climates they protect them- 
selves from freezing in winter by retiring in groups of fifty 
to one hundred or more, into cavities in the muddy bottom 
called ‘ kettles,’ where they pass the time until spring, hud- 
dled together in concentric circles, with their heads together, 
the posterior part of the body raised and held immovable, 
scarcely lifting the gills for breathing and without taking a 
particle of food. This abstinence and torpidity lasts in cold 
countries six or even seven months, and thus they can live out 
a very rigorous winter. 
“ In Central Europe its growth is entirely suspended in the 
winter, the increase in weight taking place from May to 
August, and especially in July. The rate of growth depends 
upon many things, the temperature of the water, the quality 
and quantity of food, the nature of the bottom. In rivers and 
lakes they attain the greatest size.” 
In the summer of 1872 the carp w T as introduced by Mr. 
Poppe into California from Holstein. As an indication of 
the value of this fish and what can be accomplished with or- 
dinary care from the stock already distributed, it may be here 
mentioned that Mr. Poppe succeeded in reaching his ponds 
in Sonoma county, California, with only five small carp “ about 
the size of a steel pen.” These were placed in a pond which 
had a uniform temperature of about 74° degrees Fahrenheit. 
Mr. Poppe reports that by May of the following year these 
fish had increased in length to sixteen inches, and that he 
secured some three thousand young fish from them. Two 
of these original fish now survive and are said to be over two 
feet long and weigh over fifteen pounds a piece. Mr. Poppe 
has done a very large and thriving business by selling them 
to stock other ponds. The uniformly warm water which sup- 
plies these ponds has no doubt stimulated the growth of the 
