INFUKNCK op I.MIIIT. KooD. KTC. IIU 



change prodiu'i'd l)y |m>.>iii|^ troin the (huk and injit-soilcd 

 waters of tlie one hike, to the Hinpid element ol' the otlier, in 

 the fish, is so rapid, that they assiniihite themselves almost 

 instantaneously, in outward appearance, to the fish into whose 

 society they have ennjrratcd. 



riie lakelet, known n> Stump-pond, on the nortlit rn side ot 

 Long Island, uliieli, as its name iniiieates, is tilled witli the butts 

 of dead trees, and saturated with xe^ctahle matter, has been tor 

 manv vears tamous, or I should rather say infamous, for the 

 ugliness, want of hrilliancy, and indillercnt (piality in a culinary 

 point of view, of its Trout, as compared with those of the hright 

 and transparent mill-ponds and rivulets of the south side. Xo 

 one, however, has ever thought of erecting them into a species, 

 or of designating tliem as Salino StuinppondiciiK, seeing clearly 

 the cause and eflect ; and lo ! now of late years, as the cause is 

 passing away with the process of time, the etfect is also disap- 

 pearing; as the vegetable matter is decaying, being absorbed, 

 and swept away, and as the purifying influences of the springs 

 are gaining upon the corrupt and stagnant (jualitiesof the i)on(l, 

 the fishes arc likewise becoming brighter and better. In the 

 course of a tew more yi-ars, it is probabU; that they \\ill l)e 

 scarcely distinguishable from the finely-formed and tinely- 

 coloured fish of Snedeeor's or Carman's streams, at Isbp and 

 Fireplace. 



Doubtless other causes besides the influence of light have 

 their clTcct both u|M)n tlie appearance and the flavour of the 

 Trotit ; we have seen that their colour is alleeted by the shell- 

 fish, or even the larva* of flies, on which they feed ; wchavc also 

 j»ecn that they inerens<> in weight, size, and fatness, aeeonling 



I 



