14 DR. A. GlJNTHER ON THE BRITISH CHARRS. [Jan. 13, 



third in that of the fourth ray ; the upper margin of the fin is straight. 

 The first ray is nearly half as long as the second, the second and 

 third half as long as the third and fourth ; the fifth, sixth, and 

 seventh are the longest, the former simple, and the two latter 

 branched ; the last is split to the base, and half as long as the sixth. 

 The distance of the adipous fin from the dorsal is equal to, or rather 

 less than, twice the length of the base of the latter. 



The origin of the anal fin is in the middle between the root of the 

 caudal and that of the outer ventral ray ; the length of its base is 

 less than that of the dorsal and two-thirds of the length of the fifth 

 ray. The fourth, fifth, and sixth rays are the longest, and form an 

 acute point ; the lower margin of the fin is slightly emarginate. 

 The fourth ray is simple, the fifth branched ; the last is split to the 

 base, half as long as the fourth. 



Caudal fin forked, one of the middle rays being two-fifths as long 

 as the outer ones, the length of which is less than one-fifth of the 

 total. Lobes pointed. 



The base of the pectoral is entirely free, and not overlapped by 

 the gill-cover apparatus ; it is shorter than the head, terminating at 

 a considerable distance from the vertical from the origin of the dorsal; 

 its length is one-half, or not much more than one-half, of the dis- 

 tance between its root and that of the ventral. 



The ventral is inserted below the tenth and eleventh dorsal rays, 

 its length being four-fifths of that of the pectoral, and two-thirds of 

 that of the head. 



Back bluish black ; sides silvery, with scattered Hght salmon- 

 coloured dots ; belly reddish ; fins black, the anal and the paired 

 fins with a reddish tinge, the anal and the ventrals with a narrow 

 whitish margin. 



Number of vertebrae 63. 



This is evidently one of the smallest species of this genus ; it is 

 mature when it has grown to a size of 5-6 inches, and, according to 

 inquiries made by the Earl of Enniskillen, it never exceeds the length 

 of the specimens described, viz. 7-8 inches. The locality where it is 

 found is Lough Eske, a small lake in the county of Donegal, the cir- 

 cumference of which is not above eight miles. Mr. Brooke, whose 

 family were residents on the shores of that lake for more than two 

 centuries, writes that " Lough Eske (Eske, or Yesk, meaning Fish) 

 was the crater of an extinct volcano, as suggested by Dr. "Wilde, of 

 Dublin ; a high mountain-range runs close to the north-east shores. 

 In the season, salmon, white trout, and the common lake-trout are in 

 abundance. The Commissioners of Fisheries have decided that the 

 Charr of Lough Eske are the Salmo alpinus, thus placing them in the 

 same Act as salmon ; so that, except for scientific purposes, we are 

 not permitted to take them after August. Formerly, in the months of 

 October and November the fish were taken in large quantities by the 

 country-people, without any apparent diminution of their numbers. 

 Now, at the permitted season of fishing they remain in such deep 

 waters, the people have not nets sufficiently large to take them. The 

 Charr are not at all like the only ' freshwater Herring ' with which 



