174 Note on a Sea Trout, by Mr A. B. Stirling. 



under border, more or less well marked in individuals, and 

 present in all the specimens, but without the black line on the 

 inner side of the white border, so conspicuous in the Fario 

 (Northern Fario Giamardi). One of the detained smolts, which 

 had been put into a small pond (along with other 10) in which 

 the water was kept salt, to represent as nearly as possible sea 

 water, was presented to me by Mr Huntley for anatomical and 

 zoological examination, and is now placed, in the Museum of 

 Anatomy, in the University of Edinburgh. 



This specimen, which is a female, weighing 12^ oz., was in- 

 stantaneously killed by puncture of the Medulla oblongata, and 

 immediately wrapped up in gutta percha tissue, for preservation 

 of the scales and mucous covering. When this wrapping, which 

 excluded light and air, was removed at the end of nine hours, it 

 was seen that the yellow glare had entirely disappeared from the 

 sides of the head and body, and the upper part of the head and 

 back had also become much lighter, the X markings were darker 

 and more distinct, and the under part of the body, from chin to 

 tail, retained its. pure silvery white. The opercula have a num- 

 ber of round spots, composed of very minute black dots 

 aggregated together. The ovaries are very well marked, and 

 are in the Black-Tail stage of development ; the left ovary is 3£ 

 inches in length, being slightly longer than the right. The 

 oviducts are also well developed, and are four inches in length 

 from the posterior apex of the ovaries to the vent. 



The ova exceed in size those of the herring at the spawning 

 season. The stomach was empty, and small in proportion to the 

 size of the body. The pyloric capsule was dotted with black 

 pigment, and almost destitute of fat. The ceecal appendages 

 were 46 in number, and nearly equal in size— about 1-1 0th of an 

 inch in diameter, and 7-8ths of an inch in length. No entozoa 

 could be discovered in either the stomach or intestines. The 

 liver and spleen were both full and healthy, and the peritoneum 

 over the whole cavity of the belly was glistening and silvery, 

 and thinly dotted with dark brown spots. Compared with 

 female Black-Tails of about the same length, from the Eden, in 

 Fifeshire, the Esk, at Musselburgh, and from Lochgoilhead, in 

 Argyleshire, the Carham specimen is thicker in the body, and 3 

 oz. heavier, and is quite as silvery as any of them, the only 

 difference being that the one from the Esk has no spots on the 



