4710 Fishes. 



these circumstances, so singular in the natural history of fishes play- 

 ing an important part in the economic history of Great Britain, 

 Holland, and the Scandinavian nations, I learned accidentally that 

 in South Scotland, in a lake or lakes near Lochmaben, there was, in 

 great abundance, a small gregarious fish, which could not be tempted 

 by any bait, and whose food was entirely unknown. These lakes, of 

 various extent and depth, are situated at no great distance from the 

 river Annan, with which they all communicate directly or indirectly, 

 but not all with each other; they contain many kind of fish, as the 

 vendace, of whose food I am about to speak, which are not found in 

 the river Annan ; neither am I aware that the salmon and sea trout, 

 which, at certain seasons, abound in the river, make their way into 

 these lakes. Thus many curious questions are opened up for the 

 consideration of the philosophic naturalist. The jack or pike abounds 

 in the Castle Loch, and yet has not destroyed the vendace, a fish not 

 found, so far as I know, in any other part of Britain. With the food 

 of this fish, the vendace, I resolved to commence the inquiry. Con- 

 fined to certain lakes, and never quitting these, abiding in waters which 

 I could command with the net, the property of gentlemen whom I had 

 the pleasure to call my friends, I felt that the inquiry ought to com- 

 mence there. The facts, moreover, were reported as being, without 

 exception, an important point in every physical inquiry. Far other- 

 wise, I saw, would be the inquiry into the food of the herring and 

 salmon ; questions surrounded by numerous difficulties, and overlaid 

 with prejudices, extending even to the naturalist. 



The mass of mankind love mystery now, as they once did anything 

 which bore the semblance of a miracle. This foolish and silly passion 

 can only be met and stemmed by philosophy, by science. The case 

 between the lovers of mysterious untruths and truth-seeking science 

 has been well stated lately by the illustrious Faraday. In the matter 

 of the food of the vendace of Lochmaben, a gregarious fish, now 

 arranged by naturalists with the Corregoni, I found, on reaching the 

 village of Lochmaben and its pleasing lakes, many vague and mys- 

 terious stories afloat as to the vendace, which even naturalists had 

 taken the trouble to repeat. One forenoon's inquiry destroyed the 

 whole illusion or delusion. Dozens of the vendace were opened 

 immediately on being removed from the lake, by means of nets, for 

 they are not to be caught in any other way : on their stomachs being 

 examined they were found to be crammed with thousands of Entomo- 

 straca, or microscopic shrimps as they may be called, the class of 

 microscopic shell-fish so beautifully described by Miiller. The solu- 



