OR, THE HOME-CULTURE OF FRESH-WATER PLANTS. 
Amateurs should insist that the single old species, 
with its varieties and sub-varieties, no longer satisfies 
them (it being well known that the only kind yet in¬ 
troduced is esteemed by the Chinese the poorest of 
all), and that they now require some of the splendid 
species which are described as common enough in 
China, though never yet introduced into Europe. 
The Gold Eish is a Carp (Cyprinus aureus , or 
Golden Carp), and is very closely allied to our less 
brilliantly coloured species. Its first introduction to 
Europe is variously dated as 1611, 1691, and 1728 ; 
the earliest seen in Erance were, however, those 
sent for Madame de Pompadour. Soon after¬ 
wards they became tolerably common, as it was 
found that they throve well in the waters of South¬ 
ern Europe, especially in Portugal, where, from a 
few small fish, said to have escaped accidentally 
from a vessel newly arrived from China, several of 
the streams in the neighbourhood of Lisbon soon 
absolutely swarmed with them, and it is from that 
source that our common supply is now generally 
obtained. At the Mauritius, where they also be¬ 
came very common, they are eaten as a delicacy. 
Even in England they flourish greatly in water 
kept a little above the ordinary temperature. In 
some of the manufacturing districts, where water- 
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