THE SALMON FAMILY. £71 



Herring's (attached to a body as deep, and thicker than a 

 Shad's), appears to sink into its shoulders ; and it becomes so 

 fat at that season, that a very large portion of its substance is 

 lost in frying ; or if broiled, it is difficult to keep it from 

 taking fire on the gridiron ; though, in the early summer, as I 

 have seen it at Sault Ste. Marie, it is symmetrically formed ; 

 but even then it is remarkable for its small head. 



From its outward appearance, the Whitefish would hardly 

 be taken for one of the royal family of Salmonidae, its adipose 

 dorsal fin appearing to be the only characteristic in common. 

 Its thin head and small toothless mouth, so different from the 

 powerful jaws and formidable dentition of species belonging 

 to the genus Salvia, shows it to be an inhabitant of the quiet 

 deeps, earning its living peaceably, and not as the great 

 predatory trout of the same waters. Any attempt by Frank 

 Forester, Mr. Brown, and " Barnwell" to make it out a game- 

 fish is ridiculous. I have never heard of its being taken even 

 with hook and line on the bottom, let alone its rising at an 

 artificial fly. Nor do I believe that either of the above- 

 named writers has any reliable authority for holding out 

 such an idea. 



The following description of its specific character is from 

 a specimen obtained in our fish-market last fall : — B. 8 ; D. 2, 

 11 ; C. 16 ; P. 15 ; V. 11 ; A. 12. The roots of the ventrals 

 are immediately beneath the middle of the dorsal ; the ter- 

 minus of the adipose dorsal perpendicular to that of the 

 anal ; anterior of adipose dorsal with minute scales. The 

 specimen weighed twenty-eight ounces, was 16^ inches long 

 and 4J inches broad. 



