THE CHARR8. 291 



Pennant does not acknowledge any difference between the various 

 charts of which he was cognisant, notwithstanding careful examination. 

 Fleming, however, describes two distinct species one that he calls the 

 Salmo salvelinus and 8. alpinus ; but he thus very pertinently remarks 

 on the incompetency of the knowledge of charr : " Though the obser- 

 vations of Donovan have advanced considerably the history of the 

 species, there is yet wanting more complete elucidation of their character 

 and manners." There can be no doubt that there is a very considerable 

 resemblance between the charrs of various waters ; and this idea is 

 corroborated by the fluctuations observable in the writings of the natu- 

 ralists, who ought, above all, to be clear and unwavering in their pro- 

 nunciation. Mr. Tarrell, for example, was at first indeed inclined to 

 favour Dr. Fleming ; but I perceive a distinct alteration of opinion in 

 his book as now published. Couch naively refers to the state of 

 the fishery laws in 1861, which, he says, do not acknowledge the possi- 

 bility of there being more than a single species of this fish in the United 

 Kingdom ; and this, according to the Commissioners, is to be found only 

 in the lake district of Cumberland and Westmoreland, where the spawn- 

 ing season extends from October to March. "Acting on this theory," 

 he observes, " and connecting it with views of the salmon fishery, they 

 are thus led to recommend that it shall be forbidden to take charrs after 

 the beginning of September, which is, in fact, to render it unlawful to 

 catch them at the only season when the fishery can be conducted with 

 profit." 



It appears, however, that Dr. Gunther varied this idea by clearly 

 demonstrating the existence of no less than five distinct species of 

 charr, and these, for the most part, distinct from their supposed 

 <: doubles " on the Continent. As Dr. Gunther's communication to the 

 Zoological Society was without question pro bono publico, I, with every 

 apology to that great ichthyologist, beg to present my readers with a 

 precis of his researches, which, it may be added, without doubt put at rest 

 for ever the uncertainties formerly surrounding this great family of the 

 Salmonidce, if, indeed, its character merits that distinction. 



Linnaeus denominated the three species of which he was aware : Salmo 

 umbla, Salmo salvelinus, and Salmo alpinus, and before I (he says) enter 

 into a detailed description of the three species on which it is only neces- 

 sary for me here to dilate, perhaps a brief consideration of what fishes 

 Linnaeus referred to is necessary. First, then, let me refer to : 



Salmo salvelinus, of South Germany. Linnaeus has founded this 

 species on the tenth species of Salmo in Artedi's "Genera, "or on the 

 eleventh of his " Synonymy," and Artedi had derived the whole of his 

 knowledge of the fish from Willoughby, who gives a description of the 



