Sir W. Jardine on the Common Trout. 53 



evidently the same variety, inhabiting a particular district, and 

 having the appearance changed by circumstances. 



It is not so, however, with the second variety to be noticed. It 

 is from Loch Shin, a loch of great extent and great depth, lying 

 only at the distance of about three or four miles from the other, 

 but on a much lower level. The bottom is for the most part 

 rocky, gravelly, or sandy, but a great extent of its banks are 

 mossy, and the water is of a very deep brown. The trout taken 

 here were all apparently in good condition, but were remarkable 

 for the lengthened and graceful form not only of the body, but of 

 all the members, — the head lengthened rather attenuated towards 

 the nose — the fins all lengthened, very sharp-pointed, and very 

 powerful, the dorsal fin rising high in front, — the anal fin, with 

 the first ray double the length of the last, the tail deeply fork- 

 ed, the outer points turning inwards and sharp. Following the 

 same lengthened proportions, we found the accessary pinnula of 

 the ventral fin very lengthened and sharp-pointed, and the form 

 of the scales under the microscope longer in proportion, and 

 considerably nan-ower than in any of the others. The colours 

 were not so brilliant as in the last, but very chaste and beautiful, 

 shading from deep olive-brown to a greyish-yellow, — the spot- 

 ting large and distinct, round, and placed in a pale field, not 

 numerous ; average weight from f to 1 lb. ; though a few 2 lb. 

 weight were taken. 



The third variety is from a small alpine loch upon the Een- 

 more range, at a very considerable elevation. It is situated in 

 a tract of moss, but the bottom (which is the subsoil, the moss 

 apparently washed away) is rocky or gravelly, the. water rather 

 transparent, but of a dull tint ; the rock of the immediately sur- 

 rounding country is limestone. Compared with either of the for- 

 mer, the distinctions of shape were very evident. The head was very 

 round, the nose blunt ; while the length to the extremity of the 

 gill covers was proportionally great; the body very thick, deep, 

 and round ; the fins thick and muscular, the lower ones rounded 

 at the extremity ; the tail square. The ground colour was deep 

 purplish-olive, shading from greyish to golden yellow, the whole, 

 including the fins, glossed over as it were with a rich shade of pale 

 purple ; the upper parts and gill covers were thickly spotted with 

 well defined round sapio-coloured spots, some placed in a pale 

 space ; below the lateral line they become thiimer and more scat- 



