DR. BEEXX — FISH-nATCHTS'G IN HEETFOEDSHIEE. 183 



males, I kept on catching them, and I found in the end that I had only three 

 females among 200 fish. I need not say this has been a good lesson to me, as 

 next year I shall be more careful in the selection of sexes. I have now given 

 the Fontinalis a good trial. I think they are easier to rear the first year, and 

 grow quicker than the common trout ; but they are much more voracious, and a 

 much bolder fish. After the first year, given the same food as common trout, 

 and imder the same conditions, they do not grow so fast, and decidedly grow to 

 head, but ■with a double allowance of food they will about hold their own. I 

 have had a Committee of Taste, and it was decided that they were inferior in 

 flavour to the common trout. This, taken together with my humble opinion 

 that they are more voracious and destructive to the fry of other fish than common 

 trout, causes me unwillingly not to be so sweet upon them as I was. The only 

 advantage that I see in their cultivation is the pleasure it gives in catching with 

 the fly a diff'erent variety, and I fancy that when they arrive at 4 or olbs. 

 in weight they would take a fly freer than the common trout of the same size, 

 I have kept them together with common trout (of lib. weight) in a glass 

 aquarium, and I found that if I gave the Fontinalis only as much as they could 

 eat they never allowed their commoner brethren a share, and would starve them 

 in time. Also that they were great bullies, biting them severely. I must 

 apologize for writing so fully on a subject that doubtless you are well ac- 

 quainted with, but, as I dare say you know, our hobby is apt to run away 

 ■with us." 



I do not know if the grayling has ever been introduced into the 

 rivers of Herts. In AValton's 'Angler' I read : "The grayliag 

 .... lives in such rivers as the Trout does, and is usually taken 

 with the same baits as the Trout is and after the same manner ; 

 ... he is of a fine shape, his flesh is ■white, his teeth, those little ones 

 that he has, are in his throat." Mr. James Hopkiason thinks 

 grayling would do well in the Ver and the Gade ; and he says 

 that they aflbrd good sport, and are in season when the trout are 

 not. He has noticed that the rivers in the neighbom-hood of 

 Abbeys in the I^orth of England always have grayling in them, 

 which he supposes have been introduced by the monks. I wonder 

 that the Hertfordshire monks at St. Albans did not introduce the 

 grayling into the Ver and Colne. It is not too late now to remedy 

 the omission, and I should be glad to see grayling introduced into 

 our rivers. I see that in 1863 the Thames Angling Preservation 

 Society were about to introduce grayling into the Thames. Mr. 

 Buckland says that grayHng are much more delicate than trout ova, 

 and seem to die at the least provocation. They are beautifully 

 transparent, and when viewed in the sun, of a lovely opalescent 

 hue. The body of the fish is perfectly visible in nine days, and 

 the fish will actually hatch out of the egg in fourteen days. 



I have not yet alluded to the fecundity of fish. It seems that 

 a 201b. codfish may have more eggs in her than there are people 

 in London, namely 4,870,000. The ova of fish need be very 

 abundant, because they have so many enemies, as the larvae of the 

 May-fly and the larvae of the dragon-fly, and birds, as dabchicks, 

 swans, ducks, etc. 



Perhaps it would not be scientifically correct to include under 

 the term pisciculture the cultivation of the molluscs, such as the 

 oyster, the mussel, and the snail ; and the Crustacea, as the lobster, 

 the crayfish, the shrimp, the prawn, etc. ; yet it is a subject so 

 nearly connected with it that I may be excused if I make a 



