GENERAL 



DESCRIPTION OF THE 



TROUT FAMILY. 



Js Old as the Hills. 



A CCORDING to Dr. Shufeldt, an eminent and 

 /^L trustworthy authority, the Salmonidie date 

 J %^ back to the Tertiary Period. He thinks 

 it probable that at the opening of the 

 Glacial Epoch the fresh waters of North America 

 swarmed with various Salmonoid fishes. At the close 

 of that epoch, all the streams and basins which had 

 been subjected to its influence were gouged out and 

 destroyed, and their ichthyic tenants summarily dis- 

 possessed. One direct result was to drive a portion 



