Thus we see that in our aquariums most of the axolotls remain in the branchiate condition, transformed individuals being on the whole very exceptional. Now it has been stated that in the lakes near Mexico City, where it was first discovered, the axolotl _never_ transforms into an _Amblystoma_. This the present writer is inclined to doubt, considering that he has received examples of the normal _Amblystoma tigrinum_ from various parts of Mexico, and that Alfred Dugès has described an _Amblystoma_ from mountains near Mexico City; at the same time he feels very [v.03 p.0070] suspicious of the various statements to that effect which have appeared in so many works, and rather disposed to make light of the ingenious theories launched by biological speculators who have never set foot in Mexico, especially Weismann's picture of the dismal condition of the salt-incrusted surroundings which were supposed to have hemmed in the axolotl--the brackish Lago de Texcoco, the largest of the lakes near Mexico, being evidently in the philosopher's mind. Entry: AXOLOTL
BLEAK, or BLICK (_Alburnus lucidus_), a small fish of the Cyprinid family, allied to the bream and the minnow, but with a more elongate body, resembling a sardine. It is found in European streams, and is caught by anglers, being also a favourite in aquariums. The well-known and important industry of "Essence Orientale" and artificial pearls, carried on in France and Germany with the crystalline silvery colouring matter of the bleak, was introduced from China about the middle of the 17th century. Entry: BLEAK