THIS in the artificial system of the Swedish naturalist, is a species, as its generic name imports, of the same kind as the preceding. It is a small fish domesticated by the Chinese, and generally kept for ornament by great people in their courts and gardens. They breed them in small ponds made for the purpose, in basons, and even in porcelain vessels. This fish is no larger than our pilchard. The male is of a bright red colour, from the top of the head to the middle of the body: the rest is of gold colour; but it is so bright and splendid, that the finest gilding, according to F. le Comte, cannot approach it. The female is white, but its tail and half of its body resemble the lustre of silver. F. du Halde, however, observes, that a red and a white colour are not always the distinguishing marks of the male and female; but that the females are known by several white spots, which are seen round the orifice, that serves them as organs of hearing; and the males, by having these spots much brighter. Gold-fish are light and lively; they love to sport on the surface of the water, soon become familiarized, and may even be accustomed to come and receive their food on sounding a small rattle. Great care is necessary to preserve them; for they are extremely delicate, and sensible of the least injuries of the air; a loud noise, such as that of thunder or cannon; a strong smell, a violent shaking of the vessel or a single touch, will often destroy them. These fish live with little nourishment; those small worms which are engendered in the water, or the earthy particles that are mixed with it, are sufficient for their food. The Chinese, however, take care from time to time, to throw into the basons and reservoirs where they are kept, small balls of paste, which they are very fond of when dissolved; they give them also lean pork, dried in the sun, and reduced to a fine

The silver fish does not belong to this genus: it is an atherine (atherina theridia) a native of the fresh waters of Carolina.

EDITOR.

and delicate powder, and sometimes snails: the slime which these insects leave at the bottom of the vessel is a great delicacy to them, and they eagerly hasten to feed on it. In winter they are removed from the court to a warm chamber, where they are kept generally shut up in a porcelain vessel. During that season they receive no nourishment; however, in spring, when they are carried back to their former bason, they sport and play with the same strength and liveliness as they did the preceding year.

In warm countries these fish multiply fast, provided care is taken to collect their spawn, which floats on the water, and which they almost entirely devour. This spawn is put into a particular vessel, exposed to the sun, and preserved until vivified by the heat. Gold-fish, however, seldom multiply when they are kept in close vases, because they are then too much confined. In order to render them fruitful, they must be put into reservoirs of considerable depth in some places at least, and which are constantly supplied with fresh water. At a certain time of the year, a prodigious number of barks may be seen in the great river Yangtsekiang, which go thither to purchase the spawn of these fish. Towards the month of May, the neighbouring inhabitants shut up the river in several places with mats and hurdles, which occupy an extent of almost nine or ten leagues; and they leave only a space in the middle sufficient for the passage of barks. The spawn of the fish, which the Chinese can distinguish at first sight, although a stranger could perceive no traces of it in the water, is stopped by these hurdles. The water mixed with spawn is then drawn up, and after it has been put into large vessels, it is sold to merchants, who transport it This water is sold by mea. desirous of stocking their

afterwards to every part of the empire. sure, and purchased by those who are ponds and reservoirs with fish.

Notwithstanding the tenderness of these fish even in their native climates, they are now naturalized in Britain, where they even breed. They were first introduced into England about the year 1691 1; but were not generally known till 1728, when a great number were brought over and presented first to Sir Matthew Dekker, and by him circulated round the neighbourhood of London, whence they have been distributed to most parts of the country.

Nothing can be more amusing than a glass bowl, containing

such fishes: the double refractions of the glass and water represent them, when moving, in a shifting and changeable variety of dimensions, shades, and colours; while the two mediums, assisted by the convex shape of the vessel, magnify and distort them vastly; not to mention that the introduction of another element and its inhabitants into our parlours, engages the fancy in a very agreeable

manner.

[Naturalist's Miscel. Gregory.

SECTION XI.

Salmon.

Salmo salan.-LINN.

THE salmon, so highly esteemed for the delicacy of its flavour, and so important an article in a commercial view, is chiefly an inhabitant of the northern regions, where it occurs at different periods both in salt and fresh waters; quitting the sea at certain seasons to deposit its spawn in the gravelly beds of rivers, at a great distance from their mouths. In order to arrive at the spots proper for this purpose there are scarcely any obstacles which the fish will not surmount. They will ascend rivers for hundreds of miles; force themselves against the most rapid streams, and spring with amazing agility over cataracts of several feet in height. They are taken, according to Mr. Pennant, in the Rhine as high as Basil: they gain the source of the Lapland rivers, in spite of their torrent-like currents: they surpass the perpendicular falls of Leixlip †, Kennerth, and Pont-Aberglastyn §. At the latter of these places, Mr. Pennant assures us that he has himself witnessed the efforts of the salmon, and seen scores of fish, some of which succeeded, while others miscarried in the attempt during the time of his observation. It may be added, that the salmon, like the swallow, is said to return each season to the self-same spot, to deposit its spawn. This has been ascertained by the experiments of Mons. de la Lande, who fastening a small ring of copper to the tails of some individuals, and then setting them at liberty, found

* Brit. Zoology.

On the Tivy in S. Wales.

+ Near Dublin.
§ Amid Snowdon hills.

that some of them made their appearance in the same place for three successive seasons*. The experiment of fastening gold or silver rings to salmon is said by Dr. Bloch to have been occasionally practised by some of the Eastern princes; and it is added, that by this method a communication has been proved between the Caspian and Northern seas and the Persian Gulf.

The general history of the salmon fishery on the river Tweed is amply detailed by Mr. Pennant, in the third volume of the British Zoology, chiefly from the communications of Mr. Potts, an inhabitant of the town of Berwick. The principal particulars are as follows.

"At the latter end of the year, or in the month of November, the salmon begin to press up the river as far as they can reach, in order to spawn. When that time approaches, they seek for a place fit for the 'purpose: the male and female unite in forming a proper receptacle for it in the sand or gravel, about the depth of eighteen inches: in this the female deposits the spawn, which they afterwards cover carefully up by means of their tails, which are observed to have no skin on them for some time after this period. The spawn lies buried till spring, if not disturbed by violent floods, but the salmon hasten to the sea as soon as they are able, in order to recover their strength for after spawning they are observed to become very lean, and are then called by the name of kippers. When the salmon first enter the rivers, they are observed to have a great many small animals adhering to them, especially about the gills: these are the Lerna Salmonea of Linnæus, and are signs that the fish is in high season: soon after the salmon have left the sea, the Lernæ die, and drop off. About the latter end of March, the spawn begins to exclude the young, which gradually increase to the length of four or five inches, and are then called smelts or smouts. About the beginning of May the river is full of them. It seems to be all alive; and there is no having an idea of their numbers without seeing them; but a seasonable flood then hurries them all to the sea, scarce any or very few of them being left in the river. About the middle of June, the earliest of the fry begin to drop as it were in to the river again from the sea; at that time about twelve, fourteen, or sixteen inches in length, and by a

* So Mons. de la Lande was assured by the fishermen.

gradual progress, increase in number and size, till about the end of July, which is at Berwick termed the Gilse time (the name given to the fish at that age.) At the end of July, or the beginning of August, they lessen in number, but increase in size, some being six, seven, eight or nine pounds weight. This appears to be a surprising growth; yet we have received from a gentleman at Warrington an instance still more so. A salmon weighing seven pounds three quarters, taken on the seventh of February, being marked with scissars on the back, fin, and tail, and turned into the river, was again taken on the seventeenth of the following March, and then found to weigh seventeen pounds and a half*.

"All fishermen agree that they never find any food in the stomach of this fish. Perhaps during the spawning time they may entirely neglect their food, as the Phocæ, called sea-lions and seabears, are known to do for months together during the breeding season; and it may be that, like those animals, the salmon return to sea lank and lean, and come from it in good condition. It is evident, that at times their food is both fish and worms, for the angler uses both with good success, as well as a large gaudy artificial fly, which the fish probably mistakes for a gay libellula or dragon-fly. The capture about the Tweed is prodigious in a good fishery, often a boat load, and sometimes near two, are taken in a tide. Some few years ago there were above seven hundred fish taken at one hawl, but from fifty to a hundred is very frequent: the coopers in Berwick then begin to salt both salmon and gilses in pipes and other large vessels, and afterwards barrel† them to send abroad, having then more than the London markets can take off their hands. Most of the salmon taken before April, or to the setting-in of warm weather, is sent fresh to London in baskets, unless now and then the vessel is disappointed by contrary winds of sailing immediately; in which case the fish is brought ashore again, to the cooper's offices, and boiled, pickled, and kitted, and sent to the London markets by the same ship, and fresh salmon put into the baskets in lieu of the stale ones. At the beginning of the season, when a ship is on the point of sailing,

According to Dr. Bloch, the growth of the salmon appears to be much slower than here stated. He informs us that a salmon of five or six years old weighs from ten to twelve pounds.

The salmon barrel holds above forty-two gallons wine measure.