26 MR. F. DAY ON RACES AND [Jan. 15, 



Mr. Ramsay and myself procured them ; the proportions were as 

 follows : — 



Male. Female. 



inches. inches. 



Total length of specimen 26-0 24-0 



Length of head 48 4-5 



Height of body 4-0 4-0 



Distance between end of snout and 

 commencement of dorsal fin. .. 



Length of caudal fin 30 3*5 



Diameter of eye 0'8 0*5 



Distance of eye from end of snout .. 15 1*5 



I lO-O 9-0 



These fish had from 118 to 120 rows of scales along the lateral 

 line; the male had 10 rows, and the female 11 between the posterior 

 end of the base of the adipose dorsal fins, passing downwards and 

 forwards to the lateral line. The male had 61, and the female 71 

 caecal appendages. The eggs in the female were about ^^j of an 

 inch in diameter, but there were many smaller ones. The milt in 

 the male was appearing, while a small hook was apparent at the end 

 of the lower jaw. 



Cooked, tliey were good fish, not so rich as Salmon from more 

 northern rivers, and of a very slight pink tinge in the flesh. Under 

 what conditions these fish are so elongated, whether from climatic 

 causes or from food, are problems requiring solution. It has been 

 asserted that along the south coast pollution of the river-water is 

 the chief cause '. It has been generally accepted, that bad, in- 

 suflBcient, or unsuitable food, as well as prevention of descending to 

 the sea at certain periods, will often eventuate in lanky fish, but I 

 do not think that it is generally known that an elongated sea-going 

 race of Salmo salar exists. 



The Lochleven variety of Trout is that with which Sir J. Gibson- 

 Maitland has had such marked success at Howietoun; and by 

 keeping those bred in diiferent years by themselves, some exceedingly 

 interesting results have already been ascertained, the prelude possibly 

 to many more. The first of these fish to which I propose adverting 

 are those which are the elders of the fishery, and were hatched in 



' A correspondent in the 'Field ' (January 5, 1884, page Ki) observes: — " I 

 have conversed with several old Devonshire anglers, who sadly recall the davd 

 of their youth, when they could reckon with a moral certainty on catching two 

 or tlu-ee Salmon in the Teign with the artitlcial fly, on any fair fishing day, 

 before the mines had poisoned the river, and who have since then seen a large 

 tract of the stream, extending over three or four miles, so thickly fouled with 

 mine-washings, as to become as lifeless as the Dead-Sea waters. Salmon could 

 not swim or live in such waters for many years. During all this interval the 

 river of course was utterly destroyed for Sahnon-iishing, but, .strange to say, 

 since the mines have been worked out, some few straggling fish have begun to 

 return in gradually increasing numbers during the last three or four years; but 

 the taint of the poison still lingers there, and this peculiarity remains, that the 

 flesh of a Teign Salmon is hard and woolly, and utterly devoid of that curded 

 richness which lies between the flakes of a well- dressed fresh-run Severn 

 Salmon." 



