THE TROUT. 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 extraor- 

 dinary composition fo gaudy feathers, gold and silver thread, and various heterogene- 

 ous 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 flavor. 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 color 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 TROUT is perhaps the 

 greatest favorite 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 endeavors 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 favorable 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 



