THE scnooDics. 103 



r 



tliG perfect salmon and the degenerated salmon frequented 

 the same stream, and that, under precisely similar conditions, 

 they had very dissimilar habits. This, I think, would con- 

 stitute a distinct species." 



The Loch Lomond trout, already alluded to, inhabit a 

 restricted range of three lakes near St. John, and have never 

 been found elsewhere, so far as known, although there are 

 several smaller lakes emptying into the chain. It has never 

 been debarred from the sea; but, as far as has been ascer- 

 tained, it never goes to salt water. Although exactly resem- 

 bling the St. Croix salmon externally, their flesh is ichite, 

 coarse, and comparatively unpalatable, while the latter is 

 pink and delicious in flavor. Hence, it has been contended 

 that these again are a distinct species, and I have so located 

 them in my classification of Salmonida3 given in Part I. of 

 this book. Mr. Venning states that the land-locked salmon 

 Avere formerly taken in Lake Sebago, sometimes as heavy as 

 three or four pounds ; but since the erection of a dam at the 

 foot of the lake they have become rare and have almost dis- 

 appeared. What makes the question more interesting is the 

 fact that the fish, confined to the river since the erection of 

 the dam, have diminished in size, and their flesh has become 

 white. Mr. Venning writes : 



"I had no difficulty in identifying it with the troift of 

 Loch Lomond. It corresponded in every respect with that 

 fish ; even to the trial of the flesh. I took some trouble to 

 get information on the subject, and one piece of information 

 I ferreted out rather supports the theory that the fish is, in 

 some way, descended from the true salmon. In the course 

 of my inquiries, I was informed by Mr. Thomas Trafton— a 

 hale, vigorous old gentleman of seventy-nine years, who still 

 retains his fondness ft>r angling, and a distinct recollection 

 of the time when the fish was not a denizen of Loch Lomond 

 — that, previous to the erection of the dam at the mouth of 

 Mispeck River, which empties the waters of Loch Lomond 

 into the Bay of Fundy, salmon used to frequent the stream 



