FONTINALIS 



solve them ? Do the Laurentian waters 

 contain more than one species of fon- 

 tinalis, or may all the variations in 

 colour, form and size be accounted for 

 by differences of environment ? Are the 

 heavy fish with underhung jaw, which 

 the habitants call bees croches, merely 

 old trout, and at what age and why did 

 they begin to leave their fellows behind 

 in point of stature ? How comes it that 

 in one water the fish never exceed a cer- 

 tain size, while in another, where the 

 conditions appear to be no more favour- 

 able, a certain small proportion grow 

 indefinitely? May it be that the half- 

 pound trout and the five-pounder, which 

 you take in two consecutive casts, are of 

 the same age, and simply represent dif- 

 ferent degrees of ichthyic prosperity? 

 Granting that one fish comes into the 

 world better fitted than another for the 

 struggle of life, is the only other element 

 of importance the quantity and quality 

 of available food? Is the very large 

 4 45 



