134 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



iiioiith ol'tho Marg'ucritc in the lower Saguenay and also neav Tadoiissao. 

 Thousands tt)o. may annually be seen in the vicinity of (*hicoutiini l)eloAv 

 all the rapids and falls of the river, but from the fact that many are 

 touud all winter in Lake St. John and that the usual colour of the flesh is 

 not >o red as that of the salmon that is known to visit the sea, due to the 

 différence in the food sup])lies, it may safely be assumetl that feAv if any 

 of tliem re<j;'ularly migrate to salt water. This is no more evidence how- 

 ever, that they are land-locked, than wvrv similar habits on the ]iart of 

 the salmon formerly so plentiful in Lake ()ntario, or that the alewives 

 introdueed into the same lake in 1873, according to Dr. lîean, are equally 

 land-locked l)ecause of the ])revailing impression amongst the fishermen 

 that they are now permanent inhal)itants of the lake. Tf they areso, it 

 is from choice rather than necessity, there being no more obstruction to 

 their descent to the sea than there is to that of tin- onananiche from Lake 

 St. Jiilni. The mistake of calling the latter a '• lamMocked " salmon is a 

 common one and nearly as old as the literature of the subject. And the 

 su])]»osition that if they do descend the Saguenay, the .onananiche are 

 unable to overcome the natural obstacles to their ascent of the discharge 

 of Lake St. John is also erroneous, though recorded as a fact by Mr. 

 McCarthy in • The Leaping C^uananiche." The fact is that the fish over- 

 comes greater obstacles in its ascent to its spawning grounds in some of 

 the wild tributary waters of Lake St. John than any encountei'ed by it 

 in /(/ (jratule 'léeharge, and in the fall of the year may be seen in large 

 numbers successfully leaping up the rifth fall of the Mistassini. the 

 Salmon river chvte of the Ashuapmouchouan and ]!arts of the r/mte au 

 (liable and other cataracts of the Peribonca, often after the failure of 

 many i)revious efforts. Webstrrsh therefore untrue to biological science 

 in defining the fish whose name it spells "winninish ' to be '-the land- 

 locked variety of the common salmon (Canada)." And the erroneous 

 statement occurring in the definition of the word stamps the blunder a 

 ])hilological as well as a biological one. •• The fresh water salmon of 

 Canada ' would have been a more correct definition of the name, though 

 not likely to be nearly comprehensive enough for the wider range to be 

 covered in the near future by the original form of the word "ouananielie." 

 Of Canadian origin, there is promise of its general adoption, ere long, as 

 the name of the fresh water salmon of the Ignited States as well as for 

 that of the Canadian fish. The two fish, though diffei-ing slightly in 

 their habits, owing to the dift'erence in the temperature of the water of 

 their respective habitats are known to be identical in family classification ; 

 and American writers on icthyological subjects are coming to see that 

 there is no necessity for a ditt'ei'cnt name in the United States for the 

 ouananichc when it occurs in American waters, and the more so that tlie 

 name '-land-locked salmon" by which it has hitherto been known is as 

 inapju'opriate and misleading, considei'ing the condition of its habitat, as 



