600 



SALMON. 



greater power of the fins ; for we never find power 

 given by nature, unless the owner, in the average 

 economy of its species, has occasion for it. 



The reason of all this perplexity about the parr 

 was, that they looked only at the colour of the fish, 

 and not at the peculiarities of its organs. " There's 

 saumons in them both," was one of Fluellin's proofs 

 of the identity of the rivers of Monmouth and Mace- 

 donia ; and " there's spots on them both," was the 

 ground on which it was concluded thai the parr and 

 the fry were " both saumons." Mr. Yarrell has the 

 merit of settling the point about the spots, by show- 

 ing that they are upon the young of all the true 

 salmon and trout, that they can be traced on the skin 

 after they have disappeared from the scales ; and it 

 may be added, that the dusky blotches which are on 

 the sides of full-grown salmon, are remains of the 

 general marking on the young. We believe that 

 these dusky markings on the sides are not found even 

 in the young of the grayling, the guiniad, and the 

 other species which depart more from the true sal- 

 mon character in other respects. The family, how- 

 ever, want some further observation as to these and 

 several of their other characters. 



In addition to this, it has been proved again and 

 again, that there are parr in places where neither 

 salmon or trout is to be found, either young or adult, 

 and vice versa; and also, that salmon have been 

 almost exterminated from rivers, without the slightest 

 diminution of the numbers of the parr in them. 



Still it is understood that the parr (small as it is, 

 for eight inches is reckoned a very large one), is 

 migratory, spawning in winter or in early spring, 

 thereafter descending the rivers, and returning up- 

 wards in the summer. As a British fish it is very 

 common in many of the rivers in the southern and 

 warmer parts ; but the number fall off as we proceed 

 northwards, and they are not found in the very cold 

 and high-situated streams of the mountains. The 

 following is the description of the colour as given by 

 Dr. Heysham : " Head green and ash-colour ; gill- 

 covers tinged with a variable green and purple, and 

 marked with a round dark-coloured spot ; in some 

 specimens there are two of these spots on the gill- 

 cover ; back and sides, down the lateral line, dusky 

 marked with numerous dark-coloured spots ; belly 

 white ; along the lateral line there are from sixteen 

 to thirty bright vermilion spots ; the sides are 

 marked with nine or ten anal bars of a dusky-bluish 

 colour ; dorsal fin with a few dusky points ; colour of 

 lower fins inclining to yellow." 



The parr, as we might suppose from the great de- 

 velopment of its fins, is a most energetic little fish, 

 dabbling about in the water with great celerity, and 

 small as it is, it is exceedingly voracious. Insects 

 and larvae, and probably small Crustacea and mol- 

 lusca, appear to be its chief food ; and, as is the case 

 with most fishes that feed upon this kind of aliment, 

 its flesh is very good. As is the case with many 

 species, it has different names in different localities ; 

 and as the parr have in some instances been con- 

 sidered salmon fry, salmon fry have in other instances 

 been mistaken for parr. They are, however, easily 

 distinguished by the times that they are in the rivers, 

 as well as by the other circumstances that we have 

 mentioned. They are found in the rivers after the 

 salmon fry have all descended ; and when the salmon 

 return, even in the first year they are in the state of 

 grilse, they are far larger than parr. The last mistake 



about these fish which we shall mention, is the alle- 

 gation that they are hybrids, and as such all females. 

 Neither part of this is true ; they follow the general 

 law of the family in their reproduction ; and though 

 they were hybrids, all hybrids are not females. 



CHARR, OR NORTHERN CHARII (S. umbla). This 

 is a lake fish, still preserving the salmon and trout 

 characters in some respects, but differing considerably 

 from them in others. These are decidedly lake fish, 

 never descending to the sea, even if the outlet of the 

 lake is short, and not going into the streams which 

 feed the lake, unless these are clear with rocky bot- 

 toms, and then only for the purpose of spawning. 

 They occur in the greater part, if not the whole, of 

 the lakes of Westmoreland and Cumberland, in many 

 of those of Scotland and of Ireland, in the lake of 

 Geneva, and in various other lakes of continental 

 Europe. It is, however, always in alpine lakes with 

 rocky bottoms, and with the water clear, that they 

 are found. They do not appear in any of the large 

 pools of the low and fertile districts, and even those 

 of the Welsh lakes are different from the English 

 ones. They are not, generally speaking, very large 

 fishes. They are met with as long as a foot and a 

 half, or from that to two feet ; but generally they are 

 not found above half these lengths. 



They are subject to considerable differences of 

 colour and of lustre, the causes of which are not very 

 well known, and this has caused them to be called 

 by a variety of names, such as case-charr, gilt-charr, 

 red-charr, and silver-charr ; but there do not appear 

 to be very real specific distinctions between those 

 that are so named. 



Charr are retiring fishes, and inhabit the deeper 

 parts of those lakes in which they are found ; and 

 they feed chiefly during the night, so that the catch- 

 ing of them is much less certain than that of many 

 other fishes of the same lakes in which they are 

 found. Fly-fishing, expressly for the capture of charr 

 upon the lakes, would be an employment of far more 

 labour than reward; but one is occasionally taken by 

 those who fish for trout, which is a proof that they 

 do occasionally catch flies at the surface. They are 

 far more certainly obtained, however, by a minnow 

 bait, which must have a heavy sinker at a little dis- 

 tance on the line to carry it to a considerable depth; 

 and even then the fishing is much more one of curio- 

 sity than of profit. In those places of the British 

 islands where they are most plentiful, they are in the 

 best condition in the early part of the summer. Soon 

 after this, the operation of spawning commences ; 

 and if the streams which fall into the lake have rocky 

 bottoms, they ascend them in considerable numbers, 

 but never to any great distance ; and if they find, 

 after they have entered the stream, that it is not 

 suitable for their purpose, they return, and seek for 

 another better adapted for their purpose. 



In form and in the relative proportions of the 

 head and body, the charr are nearly the same as the 

 more typical Salmonida:, but the dorsal and caudal 

 fins are rather further forward. The head is one-fifth 

 of the total length, and the depth of the body at the 

 thickest part a little more. The pectoral fins are 

 small ; the tail is deeply forked ; and all the fins are 

 of moderate dimensions, indicating that the fish is 

 not of a very discursive character. The eye is large, 

 the teeth small, and only a few on the anterior part 

 of the vomer. The top of the head and all the upper 

 part are, when the fish is in high condition, of a rich 



