56 American Fisheries Society 



bodies of most marine and fresh-water fishes, when alive. 

 Dr. John Davy, one of the older British physiological 

 experimenters, (brother of Sir Humphry Davy, who was 

 an authority on the Salmon) made a very exact study of 

 the temperature of the Tuna and other marine fishes, and 

 his researches are even today well worth perusal by all 

 interested in ichthyology. 



Color Not the Cause of Flavor. 

 The fact that Spring Salmon or Quinnat, Sockeye Sal- 

 mon, Brook Trout, and Lake Trout, may exhibit a deep 

 red color of the flesh, or a paler shade, or in some speci- 

 mens may even be quite white or yellowish white, shows 

 that the color is not due to a rich supply of blood vessels. 

 Indeed, one species of Pacific Salmon, viz., the Dog Sal- 

 mon, a very large species, has always whitish flesh, or 

 quite white flesh. As to the contention that loss of color 

 or lack of it, proves an unhealthy, or diseased or deteri- 

 orated state, it will not bear examination, for those best 

 acquainted with Pacific Salmon usually consider the 

 white-fleshed specimens as of better flavor than the ordi- 

 nary red-fleshed salmon.* Personally, I am of opinion 

 that the hard, dry, deep red flesh of the Sockeye has less 

 flavor and is less appetizing than the paler colored Quin- 

 nat and the Coho, or the very pale Humpback. The deep 

 red Sockeye is often dry, hard, and lacking in flavor when 

 fresh, but the process of canning or over-cooking, and 

 the addition of a little salt in the can, during the pack- 

 ing, improves very greatly its edible qualities. The In- 

 dians of the Pacific Coast always preferred, as more deli- 

 cate and better flavored, the white Spring Salmon rather 

 than the usual red specimens, and I agree in their opin- 

 ion ; but they also esteemed the white-fleshed Dog-salmon, 

 an opinion in which I do not share. 



*The New York Fishery Gazette recently said (Vol. XXXIII, No. 48, 

 p. 1,509): "Regardless of the quality of the fish, the color line is sharply 

 drawn by the public when purchasing salmon. The preference, of course, 

 is for fish of a red color, while, as a matter of fact, white salmon is 

 generally a finer fish .... One of the largest handlers of pickled sal- 

 mon in New York is responsible for the statement that white salmon, 

 as a general rule, is a fancier and better fish than red or pink salmon. 

 .... it is a better fish than most of its deeper colored cousins." 



