58, Limuean Society : — 



Dr. Knox then turned his attention to the food of the Char, of 

 which some fine specimens were obtained from Windermere ; and 

 the food of these, which also proved to consist of Entom,ostraca, was 

 exhibited to the Royal Society of Edinburgh. The Char is a gre- 

 garious, deep-swimming fish, and shy of taking any bait ; but never- 

 theless it will rise to a fly, and the common food of the Trout may 

 be found in its stomach, although the author has not himself met 

 with it. It does not seem to feed so exclusively on Entomostraca, 

 although these unquestionably form the larger portion of its natural 

 food. The observations on this fish were several times repeated, and 

 always with the same results. 



The Early-spring or Grey Trout of Lochleven form the subject of 

 the next series of observations. Dr. Knox had many years ago 

 remarked a distinction, which he is still disposed to believe may be 

 specific, although anatomical investigation has not hitherto confirmed 

 it, between the ordinary Trout of the lake and this, which is in the 

 highest condition at the end of December, and in the months of 

 January, February and March, a period in which all other descrip- 

 tions of Trout are worthless as food for man. On an examination 

 of these Trout in the month of January, they were found to be filled 

 with Entomostraca, which the author has always found to constitute 

 the food of the early spring Trout of Lochleven. During the 

 remainder of the year, the ordinary Lochleven Trout live on the 

 Buccinum and the common food of Trout, with which the lake 

 abounds ; they rise readily to a fly, and may be taken with worms 

 or minnows, or any of the ordinary bait used for Trout. 



In regard to the Herring, which next formed the subject of 

 Dr. Knox's investigations, the great difl^iculty was to obtain speci- 

 mens from the deep sea in fine order, and as remote as possible from 

 the spawning condition, inasmuch as when found near the coast the 

 Herring is either about to spawn or has already spawned ; and in 

 these states it is more or less of a foul fish, and the food taken by it 

 at these times is not to be regarded as its natural food in the ordi- 

 nary state. Of the hundreds and hundreds of deep-sea Herrings 

 examined with this view, the author remembers only three in whose 

 stomachs anything was found excepting Entomostraca of various 

 species. Of these three, one had been feeding on sand-eels, another 

 on what appeared to be small herrings, and the third on a small 

 shell-fish, apparently a Buccinum, When near the coast, and before 

 spawning, the Herring is frequently not feeding. The stomachs of 

 a great number of Herrings taken in the Frith of Forth in January 

 and February 1834, were found quite empty. After spawning, and 

 while still close to the shores, they seem to take to other food, such 

 as sand-eels and shrimps. This was the case with Herrings taken 

 off Dunbar in June 1831, at which time the stomach and intestines 

 were loaded with putrescence, and the fish worthless and insipid. 

 The author's own repeated observations and those of his brother 

 confirm the fact, already well ascertained by practical men, that 

 shore-fisheries of fish whose habitat is the deep sea, seldom produce 



