Aiiicricdv Fisheries Soviet ij. -j 1 .' 



the clay shales of the Thompson river in British Coluiiiliia. 1 d,) 

 not know whether this has been piiljlished or not, but it is a fact 

 that a fossil nearh' like the present well-known Pacific salmon, 

 rejjresented by a few individuals was taken in that ri\er. Xow^ 

 it may be that the fish originated in the fresh water, and if so the 

 idiosyncrasies of its character will be better understood. We all 

 know that of this type of saibling we have knowledge of at least 

 half a dozen species beginning in the high north with the Floe- 

 berg char, then the Greenland char, extending to Labrador, ami 

 the red trout of Canada, the silver trout or golden trout or white 

 trout of Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire, the l)lue-back of 

 Maine, the Dolly Varden of the west, the white-spotted char of 

 Kamchatka — those are all saiblings — and of course the well- 

 known European saibling, over which a good deal of controversy 

 has arisen, but which I believe has been taken with certainty in 

 only one lake in the United States since its introduction, and 

 that is Sterling Lake in Xew Jersey and Xew York ; so that 

 there is quite an array even of saibling that we know about. 

 Now, if we could extend this inquiry to the fish tbat we do not 

 know about, ])er]ia])s we would be as nnich surprised as tlie deep 

 sea investigators of the United States Fish Connnission av' 

 whenever they make a cruise. We havi- to deal only witb wliat 

 we know, and we know so little that I welcome tliis papei- of .Mr. 

 Thompson as a distinct addition to our knowledge. We did noi 

 even know that this fish was marbled; we did know about tbc 

 l)arr-marks, but the marbling is something new, and in that re- 

 spect it brings it still closer to the brook trout. Of course the 

 real distinction between brook trout, and the saibling, as yon 

 know, is an anatomical one, all the saiblings having a forked 

 tail and all the brook trout having what is called a square tail : 

 and the saiblings all have a little patch of teeth at the root of 

 the tongne, which the brook trout, with some exceptions, lack. 

 I am glad that this paper has been presented, and I know that it 

 will be greatly valued by all who have heard it (Applause)- 



Mr. Thompson: I would like to say that we have at the 

 Nashua station some hybrids of the golden front and the In-ook 

 trout — the eggs of the golden trout being fertilized with tbc milt 

 of the brook front. Thest^ were eggs taken at tbe latter end of 

 the season, we had no suitable milter amongst Ibe golden trout. 



