THE TALE OF THE FISHES 



from one to ten pounds in weight, and reported his dis- 

 covery to the Fish Commissioner. Specimens were 

 at once sent to Washington and Cambridge for identi- 

 fication, and there followed an animated discussion of 

 six years duration in regard to the origin of the form, 

 some contending that it was descended from German 

 saibling imported from Europe (none of which, how- 

 ever, found their way into Lake Sunapee) , others that 

 is was an overgrown blueback (this species having 

 been introduced from Maine a number of years be- 

 fore), some few that it was a hybrid, and others again 

 that it was an aboriginal variety. Owing to its silvery 

 appearance in summer, it came to be known as the 

 white trout. 



But the Sunapee fish is not a trout at all; it is a 

 charr, in common with the so-called brook and lake 

 trouts. Charrs derive their name from a Gaelic word 

 meaning red or blood-colored, and thus appropriately 

 describing the ruddy charms of these fishes. They are 

 distinguished from trout, not only by their more gaudy 

 rose madder or orange coloration, especially at the 

 nuptial season, but also by the absence of teeth on the 

 body of the vomer, a boat-shaped bone in the front 



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