152 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



row of vomerine tcetli, but may have been deceived by their alternate 

 slanting- toward opposite sides. Single rows of vomerine teeth will thns 

 often mislead, by appearing as if double. In our humble opinion the 

 character is of but little importance. We have dissected trout which 

 were apparently identical in every other respect, taken from the same 

 jar, and labeled from the same locality, souie of which had single, some 

 double, and others incomplete double rows. 



According to Herbert, (" Frank Forrester,") from observations of his 

 own in the region where they are found, out of hundreds of specimens 

 which he saw, none v\^eighed less than 17 or 18 pounds, and many as high 

 as 45. Sir John Eichardson quotes Dr. Mitchill as his authority, that 

 one had been caught weighing as high as 120 pounds. It is rare, how- 

 ever, to find them weighing over 50. Herbert ( vide Supplement Fish and 

 Fishing) says, " The average of this fish is fully up to 20 pounds," and 

 adds, '• The flesh of this fish, as an article of food, is exceedingly bad ; it 

 is coarse, flabby, and at once rank and vapid, when fresh, if such a 

 combination can be imagined." Again, he says, " When salted and 

 smoked, or preserved in salt-pickle, it is somewhat better, though not at 

 all equal to its sister fish the Siskowitz." He believes that neither fish 

 can be taken with the fly or the spinning-minnow in trolling; and that, 

 if ever taken in either of these modes, or with spoon or squid, it is con- 

 trary to their usual habit, and may be considered a freak of the fish, and 

 one of so rare occurrence as to render it a very unprofitable attempt for 

 the angler to endeavor to take them by any of these modes. This 

 opinion was given after repeated inquiries " among Indians, hunters, and 

 scientific anglers on the lake." 



At Lake Superior they are taken in vast numbers through the ice. 

 Strong lines some 50 feet in length are used, each having attached three 

 or foiu- baited hooks, so that it is not uncommon to capture two or more 

 trout at a time. Suckers and other small fish form their ordinary food. 

 They are said to be a very voracious fish, but not an active fish, unless 

 hooked. 



Herbert says: "A coarse, heavy, stiff rod; a long and powerful 

 oiled hempen or flaxen fine, on a winch, with a heavy sinker, a cod- 

 hook baited with any kind of flesh, fish or fowl, is the most successful, 

 if not the most orthodox or scientific mode of capturing him. His great 

 size and immense strength alone give him value as a fish of game; but 

 when hooked, he pulls strongly and fights hard, though he is a boring, 

 deep fighter, and, I think, never leaps out of the water like the true 

 salmon or the brook-trout." 



In a discussion at a meeting of the Boston Society of jSTatural History, 

 Professor Agassiz remarked that the color to which the 8. namaycxiHh 

 owes its name of S. amethystus does not show itself distinctly while the 

 fish is swimming, or when first caught, but only after being taken from 

 the water, when the mucus on the surface begins to dry. The general 

 color of this species varies with the ground on which it is caught. Those- 



