NATURE 
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1917. 
SEA-TROUT. 
The Sea-Trout: a Study in Natural History. By 
H. Lamond. Pp. xi+219. (London and Man- 
chester: Sherratt and Hughes, 1916.) Price 
21s. net. 
N a handsome and well-illustrated volume Mr. 
Lamond gives us the results of his studies on 
the life-history and habits of the sea-trout of 
Loch Lomond and the Clyde estuary—a subject | 
on which he writes with first-hand knowledge. 
Most authorities are agreed that our migra- 
tory and non-migratory trout are the same species, 
and it is interesting to find that this view is con- 
firmed by Mr. Lamond’s observations. He writes 
that in the spring it is a practical impossibility 
to distinguish young trout two or three years 
old from sea-trout parr of equal age, and that in 
the later months sea-trout that have been in the 
loch for a few weeks and have lost their silvery 
sheen approximate in appearance so closely to 
the native non-migratory trout that it is difficult 
to distinguish between them. 
According to Mr. Lamond, non-migratory Loch 
Lomond trout may descend to the Clyde estuary 
and even return with sea-lice—from which one 
might infer that a trout is only migratory and a 
$ea-trout when it actually reaches the sea; but 
later we are told that the sea-trout is essentially 
an estuarine fish, and may be found at all stages 
in the Clyde estuary. In fact, in’ structure, 
appearance, or in habits there does not seem 
to be any real distinction between trout and sea- 
trout. 
The salmon, of course, is quite another species, 
and in the eastern Atlantic, where salmon and 
trout occur together, they differ both in structure 
and in habits. The salmon goes farther out to 
sea, grows faster, and attains a larger size than 
the trout; it does not form non-migratory colonies 
except in lakes such as Wenern and Ladoga, 
which are sufficiently large to excuse it for think- 
ing it has reached the sea; it spends at least one 
winter in the sea before returning to its parent 
river, whereas a large proportion of the sea-trout 
return as “whitling,” after only a few months 
in the sea, to spend the winter in fresh water; 
finally, the salmon breeds only once or twice, 
rarely more often, in its life, whereas trout are 
annual spawners. 
Mr. Lamond rightly insists that legislation must 
be based upon reason and a full understanding of 
the life-history and habits of the species, and he 
raises the question whether the fishery laws deal- 
ing with salmon and trout are not in need of 
revision. Legally, it appears, a sea-trout is a 
salmon, and a trout is something quite different. 
When dealing with subjects outside his own 
particular province, the natural history of the 
trout of the Clyde area, Mr. Lamond’s grip is less 
firm. For example, he mixes up two perfectly 
distinct questions: (1) Whether it is worth while 
NO. 2467, VoL. 98] 
to recognise the trout of our eastern and western 
coasts aS separate races on account of certain 
slight and inconstant differences between them; 
and (2) whether the “bull trout” of the Tweed, 
Coquet, etc., is merely a large sea-trout or a dis- 
tinct species. He thinks the bull trout will prove 
to be a separate species, but his grounds for this 
belief are quite insufficient, being mainly that 
growth is more rapid than is usual in sea-trout. 
A curious slip is the description of the axillary 
process of the pelvic fin as “a little rudimentary 
or, it may be, an aborted fin.” But mistakes ot 
this kind do not lessen the merit of the book, 
which contains a lot of information about a species 
that has not been sufficiently studied, and is a 
work of considerable interest and of real value. 
Coe se 
PHOTOGRAPHIC RECORDING. 
The Camera as Historian: a Handbook to Photo- 
graphic Record Work for those who use a 
Camera and for Survey or Record Societies. 
By H. D. Gower, L. Stanley Jast, and W. W. 
Topley. Pp. xv+259. (London: Sampson 
Low, Marston and Co., Ltd., 1916.) Price 6s. 
net. 
haeees may be said in favour of the opinion 
that there is no more desirable work to 
which photography can be applied than that 
which is generally understood by the terms 
“photographic record” or “‘ photographic survey ”’ 
work. And yet, so far as we are aware, the 
authors of this volume are correct in stating that 
this is the first attempt to produce a manual on 
the subject. The authors are well fitted for the 
task that they have undertaken, having had con- 
siderable experience as officers of the Photographic 
Survey and Record of Surrey, and two of them in 
connection with public libraries. In a quite true 
sense every photograph is a record, and although 
a very large proportion of the photographs taken 
have only a trivial, temporary, or it may be a 
purely personal interest, others are of the greatest 
value, and will increase in value as time passes 
and the objects represented change or disappear. 
But the practical value of- such photographs is 
exceedingly small, or even nothing, so long as they 
remain hidden away in private collections or 
lumber-rooms. The duty of record societies is to 
systematise the work so that it may proceed along 
definite lines, and to classify, arrange, and index 
the photographs. They then become available for 
reference like books in a public library. It is 
not only the archeologist and historian who are 
interested in such collections, but questions that 
relate to ancient lights, rights of way, etc., may 
sometimes, by reference to them, be answered 
with a certainty that will obviate disputes and 
expensive litigation. 
The value of photography for such work as 
compared with hand-drawn records scarcely needs 
emphasis, but an excellent example that ought to 
convince the most sceptical is given by the authors 
in reproductions of a photograph and an archi- 
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