38 DR. A. GtJNTHER ON THE BRITISH CHARRS. [Feb. 11, 



with Mr. Yarrell's collection to the British Museum (S. salvelinus, 

 Jenyns). 



c. Charr of the Lake of Windermere. 



Two mature males, procured by the kindness of Sir J. Richardson. 



For further comparison I had the " Rothel" of the Lake of Con- 

 stance, the " Ombre chevalier " of the Lake of Geneva, four speci- 

 mens of a Charr from Iceland, and twelve without known locality. 



Before we enter into a historical account of our knowledge of the 

 British Charrs, we must consider the question, what fishes have been 

 originally intended by the Linnean denominations of Salmo umbla, 

 Salmo salvelinus, and Salmo alpinus — names with which the British 

 Charrs have been designated by the various authors. 



The original descriptions themselves are too short and too general 

 to give anything like specific distinctions ; but fortunately we see 

 that question settled, once and for ever, by the very names of the 

 fishes and by the localities from which the typical specimens had 

 been procured. J. Heckel has made inquiries into this subject with 

 regard to the Salmo salvelinus of South Germany*, and the follow- 

 ing is the result : — 



a. Salmo salvelinus, L. Linnseus has founded this species on the 

 tenth species of Salmo in Artedi's ' Genera,' or on the eleventh in his 

 ' Synonymy' ; and Artedi had derived the whole of his knowledge of 

 this fish from Willoughby, who (p. 195) gives a description of the 

 " Salvelin " from a specimen captured near the Austrian town of 

 Linz. Therefore there cannot be the slightest doubt that the Lin- 

 nean denomination is intended for the South-German fish, which, up 

 to the present day, is called Salbling at various localities. 



The best account of the Salbling has been given by Heckel, who 

 says that they are found in several lakes of South Germany, Tyrol, 

 and Switzerland. First (I. c.) he distinguished three species accord- 

 ing to the different arrangement of the small teeth on the vomer ; 

 afterwards t, having convinced himself that this character is subject 

 to some variation, he reunited those three forms, stating at the same 

 time that those fishes from different localities of Central Europe 

 considerably differ iwiheix forms. And it is not at all improbable 

 that there are really several species confounded by him, but differing 

 and distinguishable by other, more constant, characters than by that 

 of the arrangement of the vomerine teeth. Be this as it may, it suf- 

 fices for our purpose that Heckel distinguishes those fishes of Central 

 Europe by the considerable breadth of the interorbital space, which 

 is twice the diameter of the eye. Also the figure J (which is rather 

 indifferent) represents a remarkably small eye ; the pectoral fin oc- 

 cupies only one-half of the distance of its root from that of the ven- 

 trals; and when we compare the British specimens, we find that their 

 head is much narrower, their eye much larger, and their pectoral 



* Reisebericht, p. 89, in Sitzungsber. Akad. Wiss. Wien, 1851, July. 

 t Susswasserf. Oestr. p. 280. 

 % Susswasserf. fig. 155. 



