G Y P R 
commonly called Chinefe fiftt. Tlie Alining red colour 
ot' this fifli is the diftinguifliiiig mark. There are llxteen 
rays in the pectoral fin, nine in the ventral and anal, 
twenty-feven in the tail, and twenty in the dorfal. The 
head is middle-fized ; the noftrils, which are double and 
broad, are placed near the eyes; the pupil of the eye is 
black, the iris yellow. The head is red above, and a gold 
yellow at the (ides. The coverings of the gills are two 
little laminae. The back is round, and lias many black 
ipots ; the (ides arc red mixed with yellow, and the belly 
is reddifli with a mixture of (liver. The body is covered 
with large (cales; the lateral line has a (trait direction 
near the back. All the fins are of a bright and beautiful 
red; the tail fin is two, three, or four, parted; for 
there is no filh perhaps whofe fins vary fo much as this: 
in fome the dorfal has but two rays; in others that fin 
is wanting entirely ; in another there is a fort of protu¬ 
berance inltead of a fin ; and in another, again, there are 
two fucli protuberances. In one, the anal fin is double, 
(which is the Linnaean fpecific character,) and the tail 
like a three-pronged fork : in another this fin is very 
long, and the other fins longer than ufoal. The two 
anal fins arc near each other; but the fuperfluous part 
of the tail fin commonly grows in the middle of the (ide. 
It feems as if, while the natural ftrength diminiflied in 
the production in one part, it increafed in another: but 
this probably depends on the greater or lefs care taken 
in feeding the fifii. One thing is remarkable, that the 
colours change as the fifli grows older. In their early 
years they are commonly black, a colour which nature 
frequently exhibits in the mineral kingdom, and among 
quadrupeds; feldom in infeCts, birds, or plants; sever 
known in filhes, except in the prefent fubjeCt. In the 
courfe of a few years they fliew their filvery fpots, which 
increafe by degrees fo as to cover the body entirely ; 
after this, it becomes red, and its beauty inereafes with 
its age; lbmetiines, however, it becomes red before it 
is white ; and fometimes it is red from the firfi. 
This fpecies was firfl introduced into England from 
China in 1691 ; and that fpecimen having been deftroy- 
ed, they were again imported about the year 1728, when 
a great number were brought over, and prefented firfl: to 
fir Matthew Dekker, and by him circulated round the 
neighbourhood of London, from whence they have been 
diflributed to mod parts of the country, where they now 
breed as freely in the open water as the carp. The moft 
beautiful fpecies of thefc fifties are kept in China for the 
amufement of people of rank. They are confined in 
fniall porcelain veflels, and placed in the courts to deco¬ 
rate the entrances of the houfes belonging to the nobi¬ 
lity. The beauty of their colours and lively motions, 
give great entertainment, efpecially to the ladies, whofe 
pleafures are extremely circumfcribed, from the cruel 
policy of that people. 
In fliape, thefe fifties bear a great refemblance to the 
carp ; and in their native lakes they are, perhaps, not 
greatly inferior in fize; for they are faid to equal our 
largeft herrings. Beautiful coloured drawings of them 
have been executed by Edwards; their prevailing co¬ 
lour is gold, of a moft amazing fplenuour ; there are va¬ 
rieties marked with fine blue, brown, and bright, (liver; 
the moft beautiful are faid to be taken in a fmall lake in 
the province of Che-kyang. 
When kept in glafs or china veflels, they are fed with 
wafers made of the crumb of fine white bread, yolk of egg 
powdered, or pounded pork, and fnails, whole fliminefs 
it is faid they are very fond of; they alfo eat flies which 
are thrown to them. In Cummer, their water mud be 
changed twice a-week, and oftenefl if the air be hot and 
clofe ; in winter, it may be changed once a-week or once 
a-fortnight. In ponds which have a bottom of mud or 
flime, they will need no other food ; but, if the bottom 
be Candy, they may be fed with hemp-feed, dung, or 
bread. In winter they do not probably cat at all; for 
I N U S. 623 
the Chinefe give them no food during the three or four 
cold months. Thefe fi(h love fliady places, as well as 
the carp, tench, &c. therefore branches are fometimes 
thrown into the water for their life and pie a fure; but 
care mull be taken that branches are chofen from fucli 
trees as,will not give an ill odour to the water, as that 
would kill this delicate fifli. As the fmall fifli are gene¬ 
rally more brifk than the larger ones, thefe are generally 
chofen to keep for plcafure in vafes however, they 
nnift not be crowded, othervvife they will die. That 
their motions and their beautiful colours may be feert 
to advantage, large veflels of fine clear glafs (liould be 
chofen. The aperture mull not be too fmall, left their 
respiration be hindered ; neither (liould it be too large* 
left they jump out and perifli. 
When^he pond where they are kept lias neither her¬ 
bage at the bottom, nor fmootli banks, againft which 
the females may depofit their eggs, green branches (liould 
be thrown in. This fpecies has a large ovary, multi¬ 
plies faft, and fpaivns in May. They are a hardy fifli ; 
they will live out of water more than an hour. Their 
hearing is acute. In order to feed them, they may be 
accuftomed, at a certain fign, to rife to the furface of 
the water. They learn alfo to know thofe who are ac¬ 
cuftomed to feed them, as they come to the edge of the 
pond when they hear them at a diftunce. The Chinefe 
have a little whiftle to the vafes they keep them in, in 
order to ufe them to a certain found. When (hut up in 
globular veflels, they feldom grow above lix or eight 
inches long ; but in ponds they attain the length of 
twelve or fourteen. 
In warm countries thefe fifli multiply fafl, provided 
care be taken to collect their (pawn, which floats on the 
water, and which they almoft entirely devour. This 
fpawn is put into a particular velfel expofed to the fun, 
and preferved there until vivified by the heat: gold-fifti, 
however, feldom multiply when they are kept in clofe 
vafes, bccaufe they are then too much confined. In or¬ 
der to render them fruitful, they nuift be put into re- 
fervoirs of tonliderable depth in fome places at lead, and 
which are conflantly fopplied with frefli water. At a 
certain time of the year, a prodigious number of barks 
may be feea in the great river Yang-tfe-kiang, which go 
thither to purchafe the fpawn of tliefe fifli. Towards 
the month of May, the neighbouring inhabitants (hut 
up the river in leveral places with mats and hurdles, 
which occupy an extent of almoft nine or ten leagues ; 
and they leave only a (pace in the middle fofficient for 
the paflage of barks. The fpawn of the filli, which the 
Chinefe can diftinguifli at firfl right, although a ftranger 
could perceive no traces of it in the water, is (topped 
by thefe hurdles. The water mixed witli fpawn is then 
drawn up, and after it has been put into large veflels, it 
is fold to merchants, who tranfport it afterwards to every 
part of the empire. This water is (old by meafore, and 
purchaled by thofe who are defirous of flocking their 
ponds and relervoirs with fifli. 
Nothing can be more amufing than a glafs bowl con¬ 
taining fuch fillies : the double refractions of the glafs 
and water reprelent them, when moving, in a fluffing and 
changeable variety of dimenfions, (hades, and colours ; 
while the two mediums, afiifted by the concavo-convex 
fliape of the veflel, magnify and diftort them valtly ; not 
to mention that the introduction of another element and 
its inhabitants into our parlours, engages the fancy in a 
very agreeable manner. Some people exhibit this fort 
of filh in a very fanciful way ; for they cuuie a glafs bowl 
to be blown with a large hollow (pace within that does 
not communicate with it. In this cavity they put a bird 
occalionally ; fo that you may fee a goldfinch or a linnet 
hopping as it were in the midft of the water, and the 
filhes fo imming in a circle round it. The teeth are placed 
down the throat at the beginning of the inteftinal canal, 
as in fome others of this genus; this canal has three 
liriuofities, 
