MILNER ON THE GRAYLING. <dO 



Ontario, North America; T. Mertensn described from a drawing of a 

 grayling from Kamtcbatka. In 18(39, B. N. Dybowsky named a gray- 

 ing, from Southern Siberia, T. Grubii. 



SieboUl, in bis work on tlie fresh-water fishes of Central Europe, 

 under Thymallus vuk/aris, includes, T. vexiUifcr, T. tJiyiuaUiLs, and T.gyin- 

 nothorax of all authors, and, in a foot-note, is inclined to refer T. gymno- 

 gaster to the same species. 



Giinther believes that Thymallus vexUUfer, T.thyinaUm, nnd T.gymno- 

 thorax as referred to by all autliors are one and the same species with 

 the first-named T. vulgaris of Nilssou. T. oniariensis and T. Mertensii 

 he casts aside as invaluable; the latter probably because it was described 

 from a drawing more or less inaccurate of the .s[)ecies it was intended 

 to represent. 



The genus has a wide range in the northern latitudes from Lapland 

 through England and Northern and Central Euroi)e to Italy ; through- 

 out Siberia and Kamtcbatka ; in the northern fresh waters of Alaska 

 and British America; and in at least two localities in the United States, 

 that of a portion of Michigan and some of the upper tributaries of the 

 Missouri River. 



A very flue specimen of the grayling from the region where Richard- 

 son procured his specimens is in the possession of the National Museum 

 collection, which corresponds quite nearly with his original description. 



It measures, in extreme length, seventeen and a half inches; and the 

 dorsal fin exceeds in dimensions everything that has been described or 

 figured, except the original figure* of Richardson's type of the species 

 T. signifer, in the appendix to the narrative of Sir John Franklin's first 

 journey to the Arctic Sea. 



A comparison of the proportions of the specimen in hand with those 

 which have been compiled from the figure t published in the Fauna 

 Boreali- Americana of a specimen from Great Bear Lake afibrds very 

 close similarity of characters. The most marked variations in the two 

 series of measurements are the greater height of body in the drawing 

 and slightly greater length in the maxillary. The description and figure 

 of Richardson make the number of scales in the lateral line to be 87^ 

 while in the Fort Simpson specimen there are OS. 



In the description of T. signifer, it is stated that there are no teeth 

 upon the tongue, while they are present in the specimen. 



In the description, especially in the measurement of the head on its lat- 

 eral and superior surfaces, and the length of the snout, the diflerences are 

 much more marked. But these differences are of such extent when com- 



* Richardson states that this figure is not correct. 



t Richardson says of this figure, "I much regret that that specimen, [alhiding to the 

 type specimen of the species obtained troui Winter Lake,] having gone to decay, I can- 

 not compare it with the one brought by the last expedition from Great Bear Lake, of 

 which the figure in the present worli is an exact representation, drawn on a scale of 

 half the natural size." 



