SALMON. 53 



in the ocean, lie has found to be the ova or eggs of various 

 kinds of echinodcrmata, and some of the Crustacea. From 

 the richness of the food on which the true Salmon solely sub- 

 sists, arises, at least to a certain extent, the excellent qualities 

 of the fish as an article of food. Something, however, must 

 be ascribed to a specific distinction in the fish itself: for 

 though he has ascertained that the Salmon-Trout lives very 

 much in some localities on the same kind of food as the true 

 Salmon, yet under no circumstances does this fish acquire the 

 same exquisite flavour as the true Salmon." 



That they occasionally, however, take other food, is also 

 well known. Fabcr, in his Natural History of the Fishes of 

 Iceland, remarks, " The common Salmon feeds on small 

 fishes, and various small marine animals." Dr. Fleming says, 

 " Their favourite food in the sea is the Sand Eel ;" and I 

 have myself taken the remains of Sandlaunce from the sto- 

 mach. Sir William Jardine says, " In the north of Suther- 

 land a mode of fishing for Salmon is sometimes successfully 

 practised in the firths, where Sand Eels are used as bait : a 

 line is attached to a buoy or bladder, and allowed to float 

 with the tide up the narrow estuaries. The Salmon are also 

 said to be occasionally taken at the lines set for Haddocks, 

 baited with Sand Eels. At the mouths of rivers they rise 

 freely at the artificial fly within fifty yards of the sea ; and 

 the common earth-worm is a deadly bait for the clean Salmon. 

 All the other marine Salmon are known to be very voracious ; 

 and there is nothing in the structure of the mouth or strong 

 teeth of the common Salmon, to warrant us in supposing that 

 there is any material difference in their food." The follow- 

 ing is an extract from a letter sent me by Sir William Jar- 

 dine, dated St. BoswelFs, 15 April 1835 : " The fisher- 

 man who rents this part of the Tweed, fishing with worm one 

 day last week, had his hooks and tackle taken away by a fish. 

 He put on a new set, and again with worm in ten minutes 



