ANDREWS ON SALMONIDJE. 55 



fish are very different from the Buddoch Trout, or the Dolochan, that are 

 frequently taken of large size, in the month of November, in the rivers 

 connected with Lough Neagh and Lough Corrib. They are the Sahno 

 ferox, and attain a weight of 15 lbs. to 20 lbs. They keep in the deepest 

 part of the lake, and seldom rise at a fly. 



An absurdity prevails among fishermen, and those unacquainted with 

 the several stages of development and growth of the Salmon, that Kelts, 

 after the spawning state, completely recover their original condition, if 

 detained any time in the fresh water. Their investigations must have 

 much deceived them ; for a Salmon will never recover a healthy state and 

 appearance, nor be restored to any condition, until it has again accom- 

 plished its necessary sojourn in the salt water, where only its healthy 

 condition and growth are attained. There are many cases of the obsti- 

 nacy of fishermen in that respect ; and one in March last was judiciously 

 decided at a Justice of Peace Court, held in the Town-hall, Kelso, under 

 the Tweed Fisheries Act, where persons were charged with killing un- 

 clean fish. The law was given against them, although experienced fish- 

 ermen deposed that the fish was a first-rate Eaggit, and not a foul or 

 unclean fish — in fact, a new-mended Kelt. The bailiffs, however, pro- 

 perly proved its unclean and unhealthy condition. 



The peculiar characters of the head of the fish, which the drawing 

 represents, and specimens that I have obtained and preserved, both in 

 spirits and in the dried state, lead me to consider that the figure given 

 in Sir John Richardson's " Fauna Boreali Americana" of Salmo Scouleri 

 could be nothing more than the state of the male fish after its stages of 

 spawning had been accomplished, and before it could retreat to the sea. 

 The description of form given evidently bears this out, and that the figure 

 drawn from a preserved specimen clearly proves the unhealthy and un- 

 natural condition of the fish; for it cannot be supposed that the state of 

 the specimens now before you, and the drawing shown of Salmo Scou- 

 leri, could have have been a natural or healthy condition. The notch 

 at the point of the snout, and the lower jaw turned upwards, give an 

 arched outline to the commissure of the mouth, and prevent the closing 

 of the jaws except at the two extremities. These are precisely the cases 

 of the male fish in similar condition in our rivers. Salmo Hossii is de- 

 scribed as having a remarkable length of the under jaw, and a truncated 

 snout. ¥e have frequently this character in our river Trout. Dr. Scouler, 

 whose friendship I long enjoyed, frequently spoke to me of his capture 

 of Salmo Scouleri. The fish were taken in abundance by himself, and 

 the crew of the vessel he was with, in Observatory Inlet, on the north- 

 west coast of America, in the month of August. The Salmon were evi- 

 dently waiting a return to the sea after spawning, for in high latitudes 

 Salmon spawn during the summer months. The peculiarity of form of 

 head of Sahno Scouleri was only shown to exist in the male fish. In 

 the dried state, this deformity, from cartilaginous shrinking, assumes a 

 far more remarkable appearance ; but it is distinct from those malfor- 

 mations where the bones of the mouth, or other portions of the head, 

 are deficient. 



