282 THE FOREST LANDS OF FINLAND. 



is so abundant in the lakes that it constitutes an impor- 

 tant portion of the food of the people in the interior ; the 

 salmon (Salmo solar, L.), and the trout (Salmo trutta), con- 

 stitute the subject of a very important fishing in the larger 

 rivers; and there are found singular varieties in the 

 Ladoga Salmo relicta, Malmgr., and in the other large 

 large lakes of the .country Salmo lacustris L. ; the river lam- 

 prey (Petromyzon fluvialis), &c. 



Of reptiles there are reckoned five species, of which one 

 only is venomous, the common viper (Pelias herus, L.), which 

 prefers stony slopes exposed to the south, but which is also 

 found in the land and in the forests. It is met with also 

 in the south of Lapland. 



The Amphibia are also represented by five species. Two 

 species of frog Bana temporaria, L. and R. arvalis, Nilss. ; 

 the toad (Bufo vulgaris, L.), the salamander (Triton palustris), 

 and the triton (T. agruaticus, L). 



Amongst other molluscs there is a shell-fish producing 

 pearls, the Margaritana margaritifera L., which is found 

 everywhere in the water-courses communicating with the 

 Oulujaervi, and also in the rivers of the south. The Myti- 

 lus edulis L. is common in the Gulf of Finland and north to 

 Wasa, but it is not eaten, nor are the different species of 

 periwinkle. There has been found in the south of Finland 

 a specimen of the Helix pomatia ) L., but it is not yet known 

 whether it may be reckoned as belonging to the Finnish 

 fauna. 



In notices of the Articulata it may be mentioned that 

 apiculture is somewhat extensively carried on in the south, 

 especially in the Governments of Abo and Bjorneborg. 

 The caterpillar of the Noctua Graminis, L. occasions great 

 devastations, and in some years almost entirely destroys 

 the meadows in some places. The forests of conifers are 

 sometimes attacked by varieties of the Hylastes Scolytus, 



