54 NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF DUBLIN. 



of my friend, Mr. Du Noyer, an artist of known faithfulness. The full 

 drawing of the fish is by measurement one fourth the natural size ; the 

 figures of the head are of the natural size, and are coloured in the state 

 that the fresh tints of the fish displayed. The fish was taken with a 

 fly, in one of the tributary streams of Caragh Lake, in the county of 

 Kerry, on the afternoon of the 27th of February last — thus proving that, 

 although clean-run spring fish ascend into the lake throughout the 

 winter, yet from the lake and its tributaries, throughout the winter and 

 spring months, both male and female fish are descending on their way to 

 the sea after the spawning state. The fish that appear in such condi- 

 tion are usually called Kelts, and it is serious the numbers of such fish 

 that are captured in the spring months, especially in those rivers where 

 an early opening of the season is sanctioned. This fish, which weighed 

 about 15 lbs., had evidently been for some time detained in the river, 

 unable to get a free run to the lake on its course to the sea. It had be- 

 come exceedingly dark in appearance, of a reddish-brown hue, its back 

 and sides being marked and studded with large black and red blotches. 

 The gill-covers and head were of an olive brown, streaked with red and 

 with large black spots. The remarkable characters were the large and 

 unsightly proportions of the head, in comparison with the size of the 

 body, which, although in better condition than would have been sup- 

 posed, still was much attenuated. On dissection, its flesh was found 

 to be sodden and soft, and of a pale or faded pink colour, denoting an 

 extremely unhealthy state. The gills were infested by parasites — the 

 gisler or Branchiella salmonia. The still more remarkable character that 

 presented itself was the large size and almost horny consistency that 

 the cartilaginous extension of the lower jaw had assumed, and in such 

 state had it become that the point had forced a complete passage through 

 the upper jaw, through which it passed, probably, at every attempt of the 

 fish to feed. The fish in its healthy condition would probably have 

 weighed 20 lbs. The appearance of the fish deceived most of the anglers 

 where it was captured, who could not suppose it to have been a Salmon. 

 Such were the observations also made by Sir Humphrey Davy in his 

 pleasing and admirable little work, " Salmonia." He says, " that fish- 

 ing for Salmon in the Tweed, one fine morning in March, he caught with 

 a fly two fish, nearly of the same length ; one was a male of the last 

 season that had lost its milt ; the other a female fresh from the sea. 

 They were so unlike, that they did not appear of the same species. The 

 spent or Kipper Salmon was long and lean, showing an immense head, 

 spotted all over with black and brown spots, and the belly almost black ; 

 the other bright and silvery, without spots, and the head small. I 

 would not for some time believe that the spent fish was a Salmon ; and 

 when their flesh was compared on the table, one was white, flabby, and 

 bad, and without curd; the other of the brightest pink, and full of dense 

 curd. Though the same length, one only weighed 4 lbs., the other 9^1bs." 

 The general name Kelts to such fish, and the names applied to the male 

 and female Salmon, Kipper and Baggit, arc provincially known. These 



