308 ZOOLOGY. 



salting in Puget Sound is the Skoic'dz, an autumnal visitor. Of these, Messrs. Riley <fe Swan, 

 proprietors of the salmon packing astablishment at the mouth of the Puyallup river, have taken 

 3,000 at one haul of a seine ! The average weight of the species cannot be said to exceed 

 twelve pounds, and is perhaps not greater than eight or ten. This size is very convenient for 

 packing. 



This subject is more fully discussed in the pages devoted to the special consideration of the 

 Salmonidae. 



1. Descriptions and history of the various species of fish helonghig to the salmon family, found in the 



waters of Oregon and Washington Territories. 



General remarks. — In the preparation of the following pages it has been attempted to 

 collate froip various sources all the useful facts known concerning the natural history and 

 economic value of those species of the salmon group existing in the waters of our extreme 

 northwestern Territories. Considerable additional information concerning the species recently 

 described, drawn from the accounts of explorers, settlers, Indians, and others, has also been 

 embodied. 



In the scientific determination of the different species, we have been fully aware of the 

 diiBculties and perplexities that surround the subject, and accordingly do not flatter ourselves 

 that perfection has been arrived at, but simply offer the report as a stepping-stoue to future 

 knowledge. 



Owing to the paucity of the material at present furnished by the specimens of this particular 

 group contained in the national collection, the arrangement of different species of the family 

 under the special generic divisions Fario and Solar has not been adhered to, but all the species 

 have been temporarily retained under the genus Sahno. To separate the species we have into 

 genera, from the distinctions afforded by the number and arrangement of the vomerine teeth 

 and other anatomical characteristics, under the present circumstances, would be rash, and the 

 classification thus furnished unreliable. 



It is hoped that at some future day, when the different kinds are better known and have 

 been more thoroughly studied, that a sound classification may be founded on the anatomical 

 characters of healthy, fresh-run adults. Too much confusion has been occasioned already by 

 the description of new species founded on immature, ill-conditioned, or abnormal specimens, 

 and by new genera and sub-genera based on the arrangement of such diverse and unsound 

 material. 



Quite abundant as far south as San Fraiiscisco, we find these fish, as M'e proceed north, 

 increasing in species and in numbers, until, in arriving at the Columbia river, and at the rivers 

 near Vancouver's Island or the streams falling into Puget Sound, they form one of the most 

 striking wonders of the region. There vast numbers of these fish differing in anatomical pecu- 

 liarities, species, and color, and changing much with age, sex, and condition, season of the 

 year, or quality of the water, astonish by their number, and confuse with their variety. 



From the vague and ill-determined characters separating the different species of Salmonidae, 

 many of which, although obviously distinct from each other, yet approach in so many characters 

 disagreeing only in shade and intensity, it is found extremely difficult to give a concise and 

 striking summary of the leading characters of certain species, so that, by reading a short 

 synopsis, an ordinary observer may readilj' define the position of a particular specimen. When, 

 in addition to the difficulties found in identifying good typical specimens of the healthy fresh- 

 lun adults, are added the perplexities caused by changes in age, sex, and condition, " confusion 



