45 
to be ‘‘ most important in function early in life and to de- 
teriorate with change to coarser food.’’? The deterioration 
consists in a distortion not alike in any two individuals; 
‘‘the rakers curve and twist in every direction like a lot of 
writhing worms suddenly become rigid.’ In old speci- 
mens they lose their points and grow club-shaped. As to 
the number of gill-rakers, in saibling where Dr. Bean 
found 10 and Prof. Jordan 14 to 15, Prof. Garman counted 
14 to 18. And in the New Hampshire charr, where the 
first found 14, and the second 11 to 12, Prof. Garman 
counted 13 to 16. In our specimens, 18 were counted in 
each row. 
The external characteristics of the Sunapee fish, how- 
ever, distinguish it conspicuously from the three other 
charrs of New England. Its graceful build, small and 
delicately shaped head, small mouth, excessively devel- 
oped fins, more or less markedly emarginate caudal, spots 
without the blue areola, and unmottled back, at once sep- 
arate it from the brook trout, and link it as closely as its 
structural peculiarities with Austrian, British and Swiss 
congeners. The nuptial coloration is gorgeous beyond ex- 
ample among our indigenous Salmonide. Throughout 
the spring and summer the back is dark sea-green, blend- 
ing on the sides into a flashing silver, which in turn deep- 
ens below into a rich cream. But as the October pairing 
time approaches, the fish is metamorphosed into a creature 
of indescribable briliancy. The deep purplish blue of the 
back and shoulders now seems to dissolve into a dreamy 
sheen of amethyst, through which the inconspicuous pale 
lemon spots of midsummer flame out in points of yellow 
or vermilion fire; while below the lateral line all is daz- 
zling orange. The fins catch the hue of theadjacent parts, 
and pectoral, ventral, anal and lower lobe of caudal, are 
ribboned with a broad white margin. As in the case of 
the Windermere charr, these white margins of the fins are 
very conspicuous in specimens seen swimming in the 
