AMERICAN TROUT. 127 



It is, therefore, quite within the range of possibility, that in 

 the large pure inland lakes, supplied by the limpid springs of 

 the mountains, the Brook Trout of America may attain a growth 

 analogous to that of the well-fed and full-grown Trout of the 

 Thames, the Stour, and the Irish lakes ; a growth which the 

 smallness of the streams which they do frequent, and their 

 inexplicable avoidance of the large and navigable rivers, prevent 

 them from acquiring elsewhere. 



I cannot say that I shall be at all surprised should it turn 

 out, on investigation, that the Brook Trout [Salmo Fontinalis), is 

 indeed occasionally taken up to the weight of twenty or twenty- 

 five pounds, especially in the waters of Hamilton County; and 

 is now confounded, on account of its size, with the great worth- 

 less Lake Trout — worthless, whether as a fish of game or a table 

 fish — of the same waters. 



The Brook Trout proper of America is one of the most 

 beautiful creatures in form, colour, and motion, that can be 

 imagined. 



He is slenderly and gracefully formed, though rather deeper 

 in proportion to his length than the Salmon, and far more so 

 than the Lake Trout. 



In a well-grown and weU-fed fish; the length of the head to 

 the whole body is about as one to five ; and the length of the 

 whole body to the breadth, at the origin of the first dorsal fin, 

 as four and a half to one. A line drawn from the front teeth to 

 the posterior curve of the gill-cover, which is nearly semicir- 

 cular, is nearly parallel to the lateral line, and will divide the 

 body into two nearly equal parts, the convexity of the back and 

 belly being also nearly equal. The centre of the dorsal fin is as 



