78 AMERICAN FISHES. 



The body is long, and about equally convex above and below ; the 

 lateral line dividing the body nearly equally, and, to a certain degree, 

 parting the dark hue of the back, and silvery whiteness of the belly. 



The form of the gill-covers, shapes of the fins, and relative propor- 

 tions of the whole fish, will be readily understood by reference to the 

 plate facing page 54, at the head of this article, which will give a more 

 correct idea than any written description. 



The Salmon is, to all intents, a fish of prey ; and to this end every 

 part Df his frame is adapted, in the most perfect manner, by the master- 

 hand of nature. The elongated form of his body tapering forward and 

 aft with the most gradually curvatod lines, like the entrance and the 

 run of some swift-sailing barque, enables him to glide through the 

 swift water in which he loves to dwell, displacing its particles with the 

 least resistance ; the powerful muscles and strong branched rays of his 

 broad and vigorous caudal fin serve a.s a propeller, by which he can 

 command an immense degree of momentum and velocity, and ascend 

 the sharpest rapids. 



No one who has once felt the arrowy rush of a fifteen-pound Salmon, 

 when struck with the barbed steel, will be inclined to undervalue his 

 strength, his speed, or his agility ; and the numerous and astonishing 

 leaps which he is capable of making, to the height of many feet above 

 the surface, either in attempting to rid himself of the hook, or in sur- 

 mounting obstacles to his upward passage, in the shape of dams, flood- 

 gates or cataracts, prove the exceeding elasticity, vigor and strength of 

 his muscular system. 



The prodigious power of sinew exhibited in the lythe and springy 

 limbs of the quadrupeds of prey of the feline order, is not superior in 

 its degree to that possessed by this, the veritable monarch of fresh- 

 water fishes ; nor are the curved fangs and retractile talons more 

 efficacious instruments to the lion and the tiger for the seizure of their 

 victims, than are the five rows of sharp hooked teeth, with which the 

 whole mouth of the Sabnon is bristled, for the prehension and deten- 

 tion of his slippery and active prey. 



Nor is he less bold, fierce, and persevering, than he is well provided 

 with the means of pursuit and tlie instruments of d'\struction. 



As a proof of the strength and courage of this family, it is recorded 

 by Mr. Yarrel, that a Pike and a Trout, put together in a confined 



