i48 Fisumne is AmErIcAN WATERS. 
rivers, in the State of Maine, whose fins are bordered on one 
side with a ray of pure white; but I know of none which 
are not definable as Salmo fontinalis, differing only in qual- 
ty and unimportant superficial marks, generally caused by 
the distinctive properties of the waters which each family in- 
habits. Thus the black-mouthed trout of the swampy forest 
would soon become assimilated to the trout of the saline es- 
tuaries were they transported thither. Upon this subject 
permit me to quote from Thomas Tod Stoddart, a very high 
authority: 
“Of the food and habits of trout I have said comparative- 
ly little; nor have I called direct attention to what may be 
termed the cross-breeds, in contradistinction to the true or 
original breed peculiar to each stream or lake. ie a es 
Imay notice that the cross-breeds to which I refer are simply 
those which have their origin in the different varicties of the 
common trout brought into contact with each other at the 
breeding season, and do not implicate the questionable prod: 
uce, or mule breed, arising from any haphazard connection be- 
tween the faréo and bull trout, or whitling, a connection al- 
together discountenanced by nature, and not likely to take 
place. Imay also remark that, although cross varieties may 
for a season, or term of seasons, rival in number the true 
breed belonging to this or that stream, and threaten to ex- 
tinguish it altogether, yet there is no fear or likelihood of 
such a result, the peculiar nature and qualities of the water, 
aided by the remaining original stock, always tending to re- 
instate the breed.” This is merely reasserting that the qual- 
ities of the water and feed will govern and regulate the color 
and quality of all trout of the same breed, whether fontinalis 
or fario. 
The speckled beauty known as the brook trout has been 
an exhaustless theme for pastoral poets of all ages. It has 
afforded recreation for thousands of years to most of the lov- 
ers of nature throughout the temperate zone of the northern 
hemispheres. The old and young, the learned and ignorant, 
