74 AMERICAN FISHES. 



Saratoga Springs, where the Brook Trout abound, in what perfection 

 all epicures well know ; and where the Lake Trout could be obtained, 

 with small trouble, alive, from the waters of Lake George, and recently 

 dead, without any trouble at all. Whether the latter fish is found in 

 Saratoga Lake or not, I cannot say ; but I should rather suppose it is ; 

 if so, the matter would be yet further simplified. 



The apparatus described above, which could be made at the cost of 

 a few shillings, might be placed in the runway, between the upper and 

 lower ponds, so as to allow that beautifully clear and sparkling source 

 to bathe the ova constantly, until hatched ; after which the fry should 

 be kept in confined vessels until the yolks of the egg were absorbed, 

 when they should be transferred to one or other of the tanks fed by 

 the streamlet. 



In the same manner, in many places, especially in Maine, near the 

 west branch of the Penobscot, where it flows within a few milesvof 

 Moosehead Lake, the former a favorite spawning station of the true 

 Salmon, the latter abounding in the large Lake Trout weighing some- 

 times up to thirty or forty pounds, it might easily be ascertained 

 whether a hybrid could be obtained between these two fishes ; and 

 so, perhaps, in a greater degree upon the shores of the great lakes, 

 where both these species are taken, eastward at least of Niagara. 



A similar trial might be made with the ova of the Salmon, and of 

 the common Trout ; which could be done with greater facility than 

 the other, from the fact that the two species are constantly found 

 naturally coexistent in the same waters. 



Should any of these experiments result in the production of hybrids, 

 another interesting question would arise, as to whether the males thus 

 produced should be again capable of reproducing their own species. 

 Should this be the case, it would go very far toward the breaking up 

 the whole theory of distinct species of this family, and proving them 

 to be merely accidental varieties, casually produced at first, and hav- 

 ing become, in process of generations, capable of transmitting their 

 own peculiar type to their progeny as is the case clearly with the va- 

 rious breeds of dogs, horses, cattle and other domestic animals, which, 

 so long as they are preserved unmixed, will produce their like ; but 

 which, if inter-bred with other closely-kindred races, will produce a mon- 

 grel, but not a hybrid one, I mean, which is capable of reproduction. 



