OAHP. 
5 
snow, for several times in succession that it was applied; so 
that at last the whole was exposed to the action of the natural 
cold of the air without; and while subjected to this low tem- 
perature the fish showed signs of great uneasiness. It was only 
when they had exhausted their powers of life in the production 
of heat that these Carps became frozen, and perhaps were dead; 
for when again gradually thawed they w'ere not recovered to 
life. If we are to suppose that the fish frozen by Sir John 
Franklin were of the same species as those of Hunter, the 
only explanation of this difference of result will be that the 
suddenness of the operation in the north prevented that 
exhaustion of vitality which was fatal in the other. 
Nor are these the only circumstances under which it shews 
itself highly retentive of life; for in districts where this fish 
abotrnds it ^ has been usual to convey it to market in a living 
state, and if not sold it is again returned to its resting place; 
which may be in some cool cellar, and that for days or even 
weeks together; the only caution used being to preserve the 
surface of the body in a moist condition, and to feed it with 
some necessary food; by which it has been known to become 
plump and fat. Willoughby remarks that this fish has sometimes 
been found in such strange situations as to convey the impression 
that it could not have been placed there by any known means- 
and this has been thought sufficient to countenance the idea 
that the individuals had been produced by spontaneous generation. 
The retentiveness of life thus possessed by the Carp is the 
more remarkable, as it is not furnished with such a mechanical 
adaptation for retaining water in contact with the gills, as exists 
in some fishes; but Professor Owen supposes that this apparent 
deficiency may find more than a compensation in a peculiar 
dei elopment of the vagal lobes of nerves, which arise from the 
lengthened process of the brain, termed Medulla ohlongata. This 
character is more or less displayed in some others of this family, 
and especially in the Tench; and it may be that thus they 
are enabled to extract and subsist on almost the minutest portion 
of air which remains mixed with water after the larger part has 
been absorbed into the blood; and in this faculty they exceed 
almost all other kinds of fishes. 
ihat the Carp is also naturally long lived there are sufficient 
proofs, and Gesner mentions an instance where one was believed 
