RIGHTS OF FISHING 213 



word ' salmon ' is held in law to include all 

 varieties of migratory trout. 



It will be seen that here we have material to 

 raise many a knotty question, as, indeed, has 

 already frequently occurred. Prosecutions for 

 the taking of immature Salmonidae will be in 

 the memory of many; and certain learned judges 

 must at times have been astonished and per- 

 plexed by the conflicting nature of the evidence 

 tendered by either side on the question of dis- 

 tinctive marks of specific differentiation. Well 

 might the evidence be conflicting and perplexing 

 if there be, in fact, no truly specific difference at 

 all ! Such matters must be left to the lawyers ; 

 but looking to the importance of the subject and 

 to the march of exact science, nowhere more 

 marked than in our increasing knowledge of the 

 life-history of the Salmonidae, the view may be 

 permitted that, sooner or later, a comprehensive 

 revision of these laws must be undertaken. 



