116 THE SILFVER-LAX. 



more than one female exceeding twenty-four pounds, and 

 she was considered a monster in her way. 



THE SILFVER-LAX. 



This drawing was taken from an individual in high con- 

 dition, weighing twelve pounds. 



The Silfver-Lax (Silver- Salmon), also presumed to be 

 a trout, is distinguished from the Wenerns-Lax by several 

 marked features. The greater portion of its body is of a 

 much more silvery white, and hence its Swedish name. It 

 is a more elegant and salmon-shaped fish, has a more 

 forked tail, and is much smaller just before the caudal fin ; 

 the gape is smaller, the posterior end of the upper maxil- 

 lary bones is in a vertical line immediately under the pupil 

 of the eye, and the body is marked with cruciform black 

 spots. 



I am not sure that this fish has been described by natu- 

 ralists, but if so it must have been done somewhat in- 

 accurately. 



May not the Silfver-Lax, which differs as much as night 

 from day from any other fresh-water trout I have seen, be 

 identical with the S. Trutta of Linnaeus, which it much 



