GRAYLING— LIFE HISTORY AND HABITAT. 285 



may be taken -witli the minnow, mostly in clear or else very slightly* coloured 

 water. 



During October and November dead leaves are often a great nuisance to the 

 fly-fisher. 



Life history. — Those hatched in June, say 1880, do not as a rule spawn before 

 April, 1883. These fish are rapid growei-s, attaining to four or five inches in 

 length in a few months. Sir H. Davy (Sahnouia, p. 188) believed that such as 

 were hatched in May or June become nine or ten inches in length by September, 

 and weigh from five to eight ounces. 



We find Mr. Willis-Bund, in his editorial note to Section 11 of the Fresh-water 

 Fisheries Act, 1878 (see Oke's Fishery Laws, Second Edition, p. 60), writing as 

 follows : — 



" This clause places grayling in an exceptional position ; it absolutely prohibits 

 the destruction of grayling, except by angling in private fisheries, during the close 

 season. During their close season, trout or char may not be killed in any way ; 

 but grayling may be killed during their close time by angling in private fisheries, 

 even where they are specially preserved. As no one fishes for grayling with nets, 

 it comes to this, that as to them the law is the same as before, and a measure 

 passed for the encouragement of anglers does not make any provision for the fish 

 anglers most value." 



Diseases. — It was formerly abundant in the Aire above Bingley, but was 

 entirely destroyed in 1824 by the bursting of a peat bog, and subsequent attempts 

 at reproduction have proved inefl^ectual {Yorkshire Vertebrata, p. 129). Mr. 

 Francis Francis (Field, December 31st, 1881) observed that, although there are 

 no very extreme pollutions in the Wye above Rowsley, yet both trout and grayling 

 have perished from fungoid disease in myriads ; indeed, some years ago Rowsley 

 Meadows were pretty nearly cleared out of grayling by it. This fungoid disease, 

 Saprolegnia ferax, has been found affecting them in common with trout and 

 other forms. In Jardine's inquiry, in 1860, these fish were said to be almost 

 gone from the Severn, where, up to four years before, they had been abundant, 

 cleared out by disease or dredging the fords for gravel. 



As food. — Its flesh is white, delicate,* and in the best condition about October 

 and November, when the trout are mostly out of season ; in fact, it is not until 

 August, or even September, that it is generally esteemed worth cooking, while it 

 should be dressed as soon as practicable after removal from the water. It is 

 generally boiled : large ones are said to be improved by crimping. Dr. Hamilton 

 says, "A grayling over | lb. weight is not in condition till the end of July : those 

 of 5 lb. to f lb. are in season all the year round." 



Uses. — It is stated that in Lapland a substitute for rennet used to be obtained 

 by pressure from the entrails of the grayling, with which they converted the milk 

 of the reindeer into cheese. Gesner asserted that "the fat of this fish, being set 

 with a little honey a day or two in the sun, in a little glass, is very excellent 

 against redness, or swartliiness, or anything that breeds in the eyes." 



Habitat. — Lapland, Scandinavia, Germany, Britain, France, Switzerland, Italy, 

 and Hungary. 



They were introduced t into the Upper Clyde in 1855, from three dozen fish 

 brought from Rowsley, Derbyshire, and are said to have thriven well. They have 

 likewise been introduced in the Teviot and Tweed, and are also thriving (Brother- 

 ston) ; one f lb. weight was taken in the Tay, April 15th, 1884, by Mr. Macpherson, 

 a few miles below Dunkeld. In Cumberland in the Eden, Mr. Spence, Fishing 



* " Aldrovandus says that they be of a trout kind : and Gesner says, that in his country, 

 which is Switzerland, he is accounted the choicest of all fish. And in Ituly he is in the month of 

 Slay so highly valued, that he is sold then at a much higher rate than any other fish. The French 

 which call the Chub Vn ]'ilain, call the Umber of the Lake Leman, Un Umhle Chevalier: and 

 they value the Umber or Grayling so highly that they say he feeds on gold, and say that many 

 have been caught out of their famous river of Loire, out of whose beUies grains of gold have been 

 taken" (Walton and Cotton's Anyler). In olden times, in Upper Austria, this fish was greatly 

 valued, and " at times it could only be caught for the Imperial table, for sick persons, or for 

 pregnant women" (Carl PejTcr, United States Fish Commission Eeport, 187G, p. 612). 



f Orkneys, according to Low, it was common ; but he could not have meant this fish. 



