The Descent of Man

animals, splendid colours may be the direct
result of the nature of their tissues and of the
surrounding conditions, without the aid of selection
of any kind. The gold-fish (Cyprinus
auratus), judging from the analogy of the golden
variety of the common carp, is perhaps a
case in point, as it may owe its splendid colours
to a single abrupt variation, due to the conditions
to which this fish has been subjected under
confinement. It is, however, more probable
that these colours have been intensified
through artificial selection, as this species has
been carefully bred in China from a remote
period. (29. Owing to some remarks on this
subject, made in my work 'On the Variation of
Animals under Domestication,' Mr. W.F. Mayers
('Chinese Notes and Queries,' Aug. 1868,
p. 123) has searched the ancient Chinese encyclopedias.
He finds that gold-fish were first
reared in confinement during the Sung Dynasty,
which commenced A.D. 960. In the year
1129 these fishes abounded. In another place it