50 SIR WILLIAM JARDINB'S NOTICE OP THE 



sea have filled the columns of our journals. Being chiefly from the west- 

 ward that these fierce storms have blown, this coast has suffered but lit- 

 tle, but the coasts of the west of Scotland, England, and Ireland, have 

 teemed with shipwrecks, death> and desolation ; hundreds of lives have 

 been lost, and property to an immense amount irrecoverably lost and de- 

 stroyed. Ninety thousand tons of shipping have been calculated to 

 have been lost this year, and a large part of this immense loss has hap- 

 pened within the last three months. The observations of one individual, 

 and the inferences to be deduced therefrom, are of little value by them- 

 selves, and I only offer these few remarks as a contribution towards a 

 subject of great interest, and well entitled to further inquiry, and as they 

 may be useful by way of comparing with the observations of other indi- 

 viduals upon the same subject. 



Notice of the Herling of the Solway being found in the Tweed, with 

 some Observations on its Habits and Distribution. By Sir WIL- 

 LIAM JARDINE, Bart. 



AMONG the many species of fish which inhabit or occasionally resort 

 to the rivers of this country, the family of the Salmonidae contain by far 

 the most important part, and the rents arising from their capture form a 

 considerable amount in the value of the fisheries of Great Britain. The 

 species whose habits I shall now attempt in part to describe, is not of 

 itself sufficiently important to form a large article of commerce, or to 

 rank for much value in the accounts of the taxmen of the fisheries, though 

 I believe that in many districts, and particularly in the western coast of 

 Scotland, much more might be made from it ; but at the first appear- 

 ance of decrease in the salmon fisheries, it was conjectured by many of 

 the proprietors that this fish was the fry or young of the salmon ; while it 

 was advanced by others, as an argument against this, that it was not 

 found in either the Tay or the Tweed, two of the most important salmon 

 streams in Scotland. In some rivers nets of less than a certain width of 

 mesh were not allowed ; but on the part of the taxmen it was of conse- 

 quence to make it out distinct, and to supply the markets as far as they 

 could. In this way a point of much importance was involved, for had 

 the herling been proved to be the young salmon, some additional means 

 must have been necessary to preserve them from a destruction which in 

 some rivers is immense. It is now generally known to be a species en- 

 tirely distinct, though proper characters have not been affixed to it, and 

 I regret that I cannot now give them with satisfaction to myself, less 

 from the want of materials, as from being unable to compare and contrast 

 them with some of their congeners.* I propose, therefore, to confine 



Gill covers, . . 11 Fins V, ... 11 



FinsD, ... 14 ~~ A, ... 12 



~~ P, . . . 14 Vertebrae, . . 60 



