38 FISH AND FISHING IN SCOTLAND. 



in an artificial lake on the property of Lady Keith, near Alloa, 

 where I have examined them, angled for them, and taken them 

 with the fly, late in September. In Chapter II., which describes 

 the estuary trout, I have given the measurement of the Loch 

 Leven trout as compared with the common trout and with that 

 of the estuary, proving them to be specifically distinct. Other 

 circumstances in their structure might be' added, such as the 

 great number of the pancreatic coeca, and their great length as 

 compared with other trout. But these are anatomical characters, 

 merely confirmative of the natural history ones. In habits, they 

 resemble the salmon ; for in Autumn, or at the approach of Win- 

 ter, they leave the lake for the streams which feed it, returning, 

 no doubt, to the lake early in Spring. A hundred years ago, 

 Mr. Walker pointed them out as a distinct species of trout, which 

 all subsequent inquiries have proved to be the case. Char 

 abounded at one time in Loch Leven, but these have disappeared. 

 Over-fishing I imagine to be the cause. But the char also 

 dimmish in Loch Doone, where no such cause exists, in so far at 

 least as I am aware. Char live almost exclusively on entomostraca 

 or microscopic shell fish, like the vendace and the herring. Char 

 prefer living in deep waters, and it may be that the repeated 

 attempts probably to drain the lake may have succeeded in 

 destroying the char. An amusing law process took place a few 

 years ago respecting the fishery of this lake. No new facts were 

 elicited in respect of the natural history of this trout. The jury, 

 like sensible men, finding the evidence conflicting in respect of 

 the take offish which the tenant asserted had greatly fallen off 

 in consequence of the drainage of the lake, and the want of pro- 

 tection to the spawning fish whilst in the feeders of the lake, 

 arrived at a verdict in a very sensible manner. The chairman 

 called on each of the jury to state what sum he thought might 

 cover the loss ; he next summed up the whole, and dividing by 

 twelve, thus arrived at an average ; this average they offered as 

 their verdict : damages nearly 1000. The procedure was 

 novel, and amused the court for some time. 



I witnessed here a lamentable scene. A clever man who had 

 followed natural history as an amateur, but was ignorant of the 

 basis of all physiological inquiry, made statements before the 



