40 DR. A. GUNTHER ON THE BRITISH CHARRS. [Feb. 11, 



should not be wise to provoke just retribution by unfair severity 

 towards others. 



1685. WiLLouGHBY is the first who with the practised eye of an 

 ichthyologist examined the Charrs of England and Wales, devoting 

 a separate article to their description*. He recognizes their affinity 

 to the Salbling (^S*. salvelinus}, and lets the descriptions of the Ger- 

 man and British fishes follow one another ; but the " Torgoch " of 

 Wales and the "Red Charre of Winander-mere " appear to him to 

 be the same species, with which he unites even the " Meutele " or 

 Rothel of South Germany — a fish which, however, appears to have 

 been known to him rather by name or by recollection than by actvtal 

 examination and by comparison with the British fish. 



At a time when naturalists were only beginning to advance be- 

 yond the individual specimen to the conception of classificatiopi, and 

 to form the ideas of species and genera, it was creditable enough to 

 note the British Charrs on the whole as different from the Salbling, 

 and, at the same time, to indicate their affinity. 



Willoughby mentions the Gilt Charr beside the Red Charr, also 

 from the lakes of Westmoreland, considering it identical with Sal- 

 viani's Carpione from the Lago di Gardaf . In the description of 

 the latter he says (p. 1 9 7), "Inpalato quinque dentium areolae," whilst 

 he expressly and correctly mentions that the middle of the palate is 

 toothless in the Salbling as well as in the Red Charr. Therefore 

 the Gilt Charr, as it is understood by Willoughby, cannot be a true 

 Charr without teeth along the middle of the vomer {Salmo, sensu 

 stricto) ; but it is a species of Salar or Fario, with five series of teeth 

 along the roof of the mouth, viz. two along the maxillaries, two along 

 the palatines, and one along the vomer. 



We shall see that Pennant and Yarrell mention the Gilt Charr (of 

 which I have not seen an example) as a variety of the common 

 Charr ; but what Pennant says about its habits and propagation 

 tends to show that Willoughby was perfectly right in referring it to 

 (or near to) a very different species. 



1738. The confusion commences with Artedi and Linn^tjs, 

 who, without knowing the British fish, refer Willoughby 's Red Charre 

 to the Salmo alpinus from Lapland. 



1755. Farrington, in a letter printed in the 'Philosophical Trans- 

 actions ' of that year, gives some notes about the general appearance 

 and the habits of the Torgoch. He very truly remarks that the fish 

 is "slimy, nearly allied to the eel and the tench." From the speci- 

 mens which I have examined I cannot confirm his observation that 

 " the male is not adorned with the beautiful red hue of the female ;" 

 " yet," he continues, " he is finely shaded and marbled upon the back 

 and sides with black streaks." "The Turgoch makes its appearance 

 at the shores of the Llanberris lakes about the winter solstice ; the 

 whole number annually taken in the two pools of Llanberris does not 

 amount to a hundred dozen." 



* Will. Hist. Pise. p. 196. 



t See Meckel, Reisebericht, p. 98 (Salmo carpio, L. ; Fario carpio, Heck.). 



