wonder when we remember that
the female can every year give birth to more than 9,000,000 at a
time."

BAKED CARP.

242. INGREDIENTS--1 carp, forcemeat, bread crumbs, 1 oz. butter, 1/2
pint of stock No. 105, 1/2 pint of port wine, 6 anchovies, 2 onions
sliced, 1 bay-leaf, a faggot of sweet herbs, flour to thicken, the juice
of 1 lemon; cayenne and salt to taste; 1/2 teaspoonful of powdered
sugar.

_Mode_.--Stuff the carp with a delicate forcemeat, after thoroughly
cleansing it, and sew it up to prevent the stuffing from falling out.
Rub it over with an egg, and sprinkle it with bread crumbs, lay it in a
deep earthen dish, and drop the butter, oiled, over the bread crumbs.
Add the stock, onions, bay-leaf, herbs, wine, and anchovies, and bake
for 1 hour. Put 1 oz. of butter into a stewpan, melt it, and dredge in
sufficient flour to dry it up; put in the strained liquor from the carp,
stir frequently, and when it has boiled, add the lemon-juice and
seasoning. Serve the carp on a dish garnished with parsley and cut
lemon, and the sauce in a boat.

_Time_.--1-1/4 hour. _Average cost_. Seldom bought.

_Seasonable_ from March to October.

_Sufficient_ for 1 or 2 persons.

[Illustration: THE CARP.]

THE CARP.--This species of fish inhabit the fresh waters, where
they feed on worms, insects, aquatic plants, small fish, clay,
or mould. Some of them are migratory. They have very small
mouths and no teeth, and the gill membrane has three rays. The
body is smooth, and generally whitish. The carp both grows and
increases very fast, and is accounted the most valuable of all
fish for the stocking of ponds. It has been pronounced the queen
of river-fish, and was first introduced to this country about
three hundred years ago. Of its sound, or air-bladder, a kind of
glue is made, and a green paint of its gall.

STEWED CARP.

243. INGREDIENTS.--1 carp, salt, stock No. 105, 2 onions, 6 cloves, 12
peppercorns, 1 blade of mace, 1/4 pint of port wine, the juice of 1/2
lemon, cayenne and salt to taste, a faggot of savoury herbs.

_Mode_.--Scale the fish, clean it nicely, and, if very large, divide it;
lay it in the stewpan, after having rubbed a little salt on it, and put
in sufficient stock to cover it; add the herbs, onions, and spices, and
stew gently for 1 hour, or rather more, should it be very large. Dish up
the fish with great care, strain the liquor, and add to it the port
w