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direct their attention to the introduction of new and valuable 
kinds, as well as preserving and increasing those already existing 
in our rivers, bays, and salt-water creeks—for fish fall an easier 
prey to man than the beasts and birds, being more distinguished 
for the size of their heads than for the amount of brains lodged in 
them. The range of fish is veiy various; some are migratory in 
their habits, others stationary. Among the fresh-water fish, some 
inhabit waters of a purer or impurer kind; the salmon, trout, 
and others inhabiting the purer streams, whilst the eels and 
other species luxuriate in the more stagnant pools. 
Artificial ponds for the maintenance of fish is a very early 
invention, and was even known among the ancient Egyptians. 
Vivaria among the ancients are mentioned by Columella, Varo, 
and Pliny, and fish was brought from a great distance; and an 
extraordinary fact is mentioned by Columella—that rivers and 
lakes were turned into natural vivaria, by carrying to, and 
depositing therein, not fish only, but the spawn of all such 
species as, though born at sea, are in the habit of penetrating 
some way up estuaries or streams. He speaks of the perfect 
success of the experiment in several rivers. 
Various kinds of fish have been and are still being introduced, 
by preserving the ova, into different waters of England and on 
the continent, in localities where previously they had no exist¬ 
ence; they have succeeded well, and where congenial food is 
plentiful the result is perfectly satisfactory. 
Alluding to the food of fishes, at one time it was a popular 
idea that salmon only lived upon microscopic animals; the 
reason of this error was, that the salmon, like most fish, expel 
the contents of the stomach when harpooned or hooked. It is 
an instinctive act to lighten themselves, and make easier their 
efforts to escape; and I believe it to be common to the whole 
class. This is the reason why salmon, when caught, never have 
any food in the stomach, wherefore some sagacious physiologists 
have conceived that this rich and delicious fish was fattened, 
forsooth, upon microscopic entomostraca, Crustacea visible only 
to the naked eye in minute specks, when every one of the 
liundred-and-odd teeth of the salmon is bigger than some 
hundreds of these minute crustaceans. 
The Australian blacks on the coast are expert fishermen, and 
Mr. Edward Hill, who possesses much information on the 
subject, informs me that when the beautiful waratah or native 
tulip blooms, it is a well-known sign to these children of nature 
that the sole (a rare fish to be seen in the Sydney market, but of 
