300 THE ANGLER-NATURALIST. 



engines, there is no reason why the royal fish * should not 

 again become as cheap in our markets as any other de- 

 scription of food. The Acts of the last three years have 

 come just in time to prevent the final destruction of the 

 fisheries, and to arrest a deterioration which otherwise 

 bade fair to reduce the Sovereign of the British Islands 

 to the necessity of imitating the Scythian queen who 

 prohibited her subjects from eating a particular fish 

 " because there would not be enough left to regale their 

 monarch." 



SHOOTING A SEIN NET. 



In addition to tlie family and generic distinctions given at page 238, 

 the Principal Characteristics of the True Salmon are : — 



Length of head compared to whole length of fish as 1 to 5. Body 

 elongated ; dorsal and abdominal line about equally convex ; lateral 

 line near middle of body, dividing it about eqxially. Fleshy portion of 

 tail slender. Scales moderate-sized, oval, and thin, easily removed 

 when young, adherent when old. Teeth stout, pointed, and curved, 

 one line on each side of upper jaw, one line on each bone of palate, one 

 line on vomer or central bone in roof of mouth when quite youno' 

 (loses a large portion on first visit to saltwater, and gxadually all, or aU 

 but one or two on most forward point of bone), one line on each side 



* The Salmon-fisheries of the United Kingdom vest in the Crown 

 as a royal prerogative. 



