302 THE PRACTICAL FISHERMAN. 



that the splendid colours of mother- o' -pearl, &c., are produced by a 

 peculiar configuration of surface, and by examining this surface with the 

 microscope he observed in almost every specimen a grooved structure like 

 the delicate texture of the skin at the top of an infant's finger." The 

 iridescence of the grayling and that of mother-o'-pearl are similar, 

 and I have examined the smaller scales of a grayling and find this grooved 

 structure very pronounced. I believe also that the increase of iridescence, 

 on special occasions, is due to an almost imperceptible tremor of the 

 scales and fluctuating alterations of tint in the pigment under the skin. 

 Another peculiarity of the grayling not noticed in the above description 

 is its lozenge- shaped though large and brilliant eye, which gives it a 

 somewhat sinister expression of countenance ; an expression which from 

 the same cause, by the by, sometimes renders the features of our celestial 

 friend the " Heathen Chinee " so unprepossessing. Altogether, however, 

 the grayling is a light, graceful, and vigorous fish, of a widely different 

 stamp of beauty from the "lusty trout," as the Laureate terms him. 

 Indeed, a recent writer has compared the trout to Hercules and the 

 grayling to Apollo, and Mr. Francis has very happily and prettily styled 

 the former the " gentleman " and the latter the " lady " of the streams. 



Yarrell supposes that the large dorsal fin is to enable it to rise and 

 sink rapidly in deep streams, but its large swimming bladder seems 

 rather to afford this faculty. Without doubt its other fins, small as 

 compared with the dorsal, preclude it surmounting the difficulties easily 

 compassed by trout, and it therefore invariably contents itself with the 

 deeper and quieter parts of the river or brook. Its chosen stations are 

 invariably rivers free from turbulence, possessing water usually clear and 

 always cool, but less than severely chilly. It is not migratory, though 

 Bloch and Donovan both state that it is. Sir Humphrey Davy demon- 

 strated the fact that the fish cannot live in brackish water. 



The idea that this fish was imported by the monks from the Continent 

 seems feasible, but there is no reliable data in connection with the 

 matter. Mr. J. J. Manley, in his "Notes on Fish and Fishing," objects 

 to this idea, on the score that the grayling is too delicate for transporta- 

 tion. As a matter of fact, this is incorrect, it being quite as well able 

 to sustain fatigue as its more lusty congener the trout. ' 



Analogous to the mistletoe, which, owing to a Druidical excommuni- 

 cation laid on Devonshire, is said not to grow in that county, the gray- 

 ling, for some occult reason, will not pass into Somersetshire. Yorkshire, 

 Derbyshire, Herefordshire, Hampshire, and Wiltshire are of his most 

 loved counties, and yet he is a particular fish in the selection of water, 

 even when in the right county. The Test, Dove, Derwent, Teme, Hamp- 

 shire Avon, and Lugg, are also among his most loved rivers. He is not 



