NATURAL HISTORY OF BRITISH SALMONIDZ. 169 
was Lord Eldon, who also examined the keeper in my presence, 
as to the circumstances, whose account again was confirmed in 
every respect by the corroborative testimony of Mr. Dickson, 
one of Lord Eldon’s stewards, who was cognisant of all the 
facts of the case, and was also present and saw the fish weighed 
when caught. 
The only outlet to the pond is a small drain at one end up 
which nothing could practically pass, even if there were any 
trout streams at hand with which it could be supposed to com- 
municate. 
It may be mentioned that the weight of the trout at the end 
of the first year was from a quarter of a pound to half a pound. 
In the ‘New Sporting Magazine’ an interesting experiment 
in trout growth was chronicled. The progressive weights of a 
female fish, regularly fed and weighed during six consecutive 
years, were as follows: 
Date of Weighing 1835 1836 1837 1838 1839 1840 
Ib, oz. | Ibs. oz. | Ibs. oz. | Ibs. oz. | Ibs. oz. | Ibs. oz. 
April. . «| O12 I 12 3 4 5 4 7 0 7 4 
Octoberr . »| i 4 20 § 0 5 12 7 8 7 0 
At the end of the six years the fish being observed to be 
falling off in colour and condition was killed, when it was 
found to weigh less by 4 oz. than it had done six months 
previously. 
The advent of the May fly gives the signal for the carnival 
of the trout to begin, and they may be seen almost with their 
noses out of water lying in wait to gulp down the succulent 
morsels which the stream floats over them. It seems, there- 
fore, that the bliss ascribed by the poet to our 
... painted populace 
That live in fields and lead ambrosial lives 
is not without its alloys. 
The voracity of trout when in pursuit of its favourite food 
sometimes leads to curious results. Dr. Gillespie once saw a 
