CONDITION AND VARIETIES OF TROUT. 49 



there copiously supplied with food, it will shortly be- 

 come as fair in complexion as the most favoured of its 

 species, and in the course of time probably attain the 

 respectable weight of four or five pounds. 



This would seem to account for the somewhat singu- 

 lar fact, that in the same river, and where the same food 

 is common to all, the flesh of some fish will be of a full 

 pink colour, and of rich flavour, while that of others, 

 apparently quite in as high condition, will either be 

 white or of a yellowish tint, and comparatively insipid 

 to the palate. I observe that Sir H. Davy says that 

 such fish as feed principally upon small fish and flies 

 have the black spots larger, and whiter bellies than the 

 others ; and he is probably correct. 



The condition of a trout may be judged of by the 

 thickness of the shoulders, the depth of the belly, the 

 general firmness of the flesh, the brilliance of his colour- 

 ing, the vigour and determination with which he resists 

 his capture, the comparative smallness of the head to 

 the bulk of the body, the brightness and distinctness of 

 the spots on the sides, and the bright orange and silvery 

 lustre of the fins and belly. A fish displaying all these 

 characteristics will be in the primest condition, and 

 generally have pink flesh. 



In regard to the accidental production of cross or 

 hybrid fish between the different members of the sal- 

 monidse, Sir Humphrey Davy and others at the present 

 time, not only very accurate but also highly scientific 

 observers, seem to have entertained a notion that such 

 mule fish were sometimes produced. And a series of 



D 



