THE ANCIENTS AND THE SALMON. 



11 



THE SALMON. 



with information, they would then be competent to pro- 

 nounce a conclusive deliverance on every perplexing point 

 connected with the salmon ! 



Beginning at the beginning, we may observe that the 

 ancients were doubtlessly acquainted with several mem- 

 bers of the Salmonidce family, though it was their mis- 

 fortune not to know its noblest scion, the famous Salmo 

 solar. We read in ^Elian of certain speckled fish which 

 the Macedonians were wont to catch with an . artificial 

 fly; and Athenseus speaks of a fish called pyruntes, "ex- 

 cellent for the table, easy of digestion, and found only 

 in cold, clear, rapid streams," which were probably some 



