FONTINALIS 



elusion may be sought in the suggestion 

 that the mortality of trout from old age 

 takes place only in the winter, when the 

 conditions of existence are the hardest. 

 In that case their mortal tenements 

 might be disposed of and disappear un- 

 der the ice or during the spring freshets. 

 There is no evidence, however, to sup- 

 port such a view. It is a sobering 

 thought that the great trout may be far 

 older than the middle-aged fisherman 

 who seeks to outwit him, and that time 

 will sooner replace the angler than his 

 quarry. Definite proof may possibly be 

 secured, as in the case of the Pacific 

 salmon, by observing the annual growth 

 of the ear-bone, but, failing this, there 

 appears to be no way of arriving at the 

 facts but by marking trout and noting 

 their growth over a long period. 



Many pipes were smoked, and the 

 stove burned cheerfully, died down, and 

 was more than once refilled, while the 

 talk pursued an even more devious way 



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