Salmonidas 93 



adaptation of the salmon to lake life. We have therefore on 

 our Atlantic coast but one species of salmon, Salmo solar. The 

 landlocked form of the lakes of Maine is Salmo solar sebago. 

 The Ouananiche of Lake St. John and the Saguenay, beloved of 

 anglers, is Salmo salar ouananiche. 



The Ouananiche. Dr. Henry Van Dyke writes thus of the 

 Ouananiche: " But the prince of the pool was the fighting 

 Ouananiche, the little salmon of St. John. Here let me chant 

 thy praise, thou noblest and most high-minded fish, the cleanest 

 feeder, the merriest liver, the loftiest leaper, and the bravest 

 warrior of all creatures that swim! Thy cousin, the trout, in 

 his purple and gold with crimson spots, wears a more splendid 

 armor than thy russet and silver mottled with black, but thine 

 is the kinglier nature. 



"The old salmon of the sea who begat thee long ago in these 

 inland waters became a backslider, descending again to the 

 ocean, and grew gross and heavy with coarse feeding. But thou, 

 unsalted salmon of the foaming floods, not landlocked as men call 

 thee, but choosing of thine own free will to dwell on a loftier 

 level in the pure, swift current of a living stream, hath grown 

 in grace and risen to a better life. 



"Thou art not to be measured by quantity but by quality, 

 and thy five pounds of pure vigor will outweigh a score of 

 pounds of flesh less vitalized by spirit. Thou feedest on the 

 flies of the air, and thy food is transformed into an aerial passion 

 for flight, as thou springest across the pool, vaulting toward the 

 sky. Thine eyes have grown large and keen by piercing through 

 the foam, and the feathered hook that can deceive thee must 

 be deftly tied and delicately cast. Thy tail and fins, by cease- 

 less conflict with the rapids, have broadened and strengthened, 

 so that they can flash thy slender body like a living arrow up 

 the fall. As Launcelot among the knights, so art thou among 

 the fish, the plain-armored hero, the sunburnt champion of all 

 the water-folk." 



Dr. Francis Day, who has very thoroughly studied these 

 fishes, takes, in his memoir on "The Fishes of Great Britain 

 and Ireland," and in other papers, a similar view in regard 

 to the European species. Omitting the species with permanent 

 teeth on the shaft of the vomer (subgenus Salar), he finds 



