THE TKOUT. 327 



useful in the extreme, as the fish is liable to be infested while in the river with various 

 parasitic animals, which cannot endure salt water, and fall off on its entrance into the 

 sea, while the marine parasites are in a similar manner killed by fresh water, and die 

 when the fish re-enters the rivers. 



The Salmon is a most voracious fish, and its mouth is supplied with a tremendous 

 array of teeth. In the upper jaw, the edge of the jaw-bone is supplied with a row of teeth ; 

 inside which runs a second row based on the bones of the palate. Along the roof of the 

 mouth is placed a single straight row of teeth, set on a bone technically called the "vomer." 

 The lower jaw-bone is furnished with its row of teeth to match those of the upper jaw, 

 and each edge of the tongue is also toothed. When the jaws are closed, these complicated 

 teeth lock into each other in a most admirable fashion, the single row of the under jaw 

 fitting between the two ranks of the upper jaw, and the straight row of teeth on the vomer 

 exactly coming between the two sets of tongue teeth. The vomerine teeth are, however, 

 only to be found in perfection in the young fish, as they are gradually lost during the 

 growth of their owner, and in an old fish are mostly reduced to two or three in number, 

 while in some very old specimens one solitary tooth remains, set on the very front of the 

 vomer, the sole survivor of the former array. 



The food of the Salmon is extremely varied, as must necessarily be the case with a fish 

 that passes its life alternately in fresh and salt water, and is certainly of an animal nature, 

 but the precise creatures that form its sustenance are not accurately known; it is, 

 however, known to feed largely on some varieties of the echinus, or sea-urchin. 

 Fastidious as the Salmon may be in some cases, it is sadly indiscriminate in others, 

 as is shown by the artificial fly which is made expressly for its capture. This extra- 

 ordinary composition of gaudy feathers, gold and silver thread, and various heterogeneous 

 materials, that are fastened on a large hook, and termed a " Salmon fly," has not the least 

 resemblance to any insect that ever existed, and it is hardly possible to believe that the 

 fish can be deluded into the idea that such an object belongs to the insect race. Perhaps 

 the Salmon may be attracted by the very novelty of the object, and be induced to snap 

 at it under the idea of securing a new dainty. 



The Salmon is one of those fish that must be eaten fresh, in order to preserve the full 

 delicacy of its flavour. If it be cooked within an hour or two after being taken from the 

 water, a fatty substance, termed the " curd," is found between the flakes of flesh. If, 

 however, more than twelve hours have elapsed from the death of the fish, the curd is not 

 to be seen, and the Salmon is much deteriorated in the judgment of epicures. 



It has already been mentioned that the colour of the Salmon changes greatly during 

 the course of its life. In the adult fish, the back and upper part of the head are dark 

 blackish blue, the abdomen is glittering white, and the sides are of an intermediate tint 

 On the body, and especially above the lateral line, a few dark spots are scattered. During 

 the breeding season, the male Salmon assumes its most vivid hues, an orange golden tint 

 spreading over the body, and the cheeks being marked with bright orange streaks. The size 

 of this fish is extremely variable, some specimens having been caught that weighed sixty 

 pounds, and Mr. Yarrell mentions one case where a female Salmon was captured about the 

 year 1821, and was remarkable for weighing eighty-three pounds. This great weight was 

 owing more to the depth and thickness of the fish than the length. 



NEXT to the salmon, the bright-scaled carmine-speckled active TKOUT is perhaps the 

 greatest favourite of anglers, and fully deserves the eulogies of all lovers of the rod ; its 

 peculiarly delicate flesh, its fastidious voracity, and the mixture of strength, agility, and 

 spirited courage with which it endeavours to free itself from the hook, forming a 

 combination of excellences rarely met with in any individual fish. 



The Trout is found in rapid and clear-running streams, but cares not for the open and 

 shallow parts of the river, preferring the shelter of some stone or hole in the bank, whence 

 it may watch for prey. Like the pike, it haunts some especial hiding-place, and, in a 

 similar manner, is sure to take possession of a favourable haunt that has been rendered 

 vacant by the demise of its predecessor or its promotion to superior quarters. Various baits 

 are used in fishing for Trout, such as the worm, the minnow, and the fly, both natural and 



