EDITORIAL GLEANINGS. 285 



In the « Annals of Scottish Natural History ' for April, Mr. J. A. 

 Harvie-Brown has published " Notes on some Scottish Salmonidce" In 

 the well-known angling county of Sutherland, with its innumerable lochs 

 and streams, there are many interesting varieties of Salmonidce. All of 

 these, however, rank, as the writer believes with Dr. Day, only as varieties 

 of the principal species or types recognized in that author's ' History of 

 British Fishes,' and still more recently accentuated in his ' British and 

 Irish Salmonidce.'' These species are : — The Salmon, Salmo salar, L. 

 (' British and Irish SalmonidcB,' p. 51); the Sea-Trout, Salmo trutta, L. 

 {op. cit. p. 149); the Fresh-water Trout, Salmo farlo, L. (op. cit. p. 182); 

 the Char, Salmo alpinus, L. (op. cit. p. 112) ; and all other so-called species 

 must, Mr. Harvie-Brown considers, have their names sunk to the value of 

 mere varieties — such as the Great Lake Trout (Salmo ferox), and many 

 others, not speaking, of course, of aberrant forms of the Salmonidce, such as 

 the Sperling (Osmerus eperlanus). The notes refer mainly to certain 

 varieties of the Salmonidce belonging to the above species which are found 

 in different lakes and rivers in Scotland, such as the Loch Maidaidh and 

 Smoo Burn-Trout ; Crasspuil Trout ; Loch Sean Trout ; the Tidal Trout 

 of the rivers Inver and Kirkaig, known to the natives as " Fossacks " ; 

 Parr-marked Trout of Loch na Sgeirach ; and Hump-backed Trout of 

 Fheoir Lochan. 



A writer in the ' Westminster Gazette ' has called attention to the 

 decrease of Salmon in the Welsh Dee : — " This river is peculiarly fitted by 

 nature for the abode of Salmon. Deep, swirling pools alternate with rapid 

 runs and long sluggish reaches. It possesses a noble estuary, and numerous 

 tributary streams, admirably adapted for breeding purposes, flow into it. 

 From various causes the supply of Salmon has declined of late years, 

 and at the present time the Fishery Board finds its operations seriously 

 hampered. Its income is derived entirely from the licences taken out by 

 rod and net fishers, and so marked is the scarcity of Salmon this year that 

 there has been a great falling-off in the number of net licences, with a 

 corresponding decline in the revenue. It is, of course, possible that an 

 improvement may take place ere the close of the season, but present con- 

 ditions do not favour the supposition, and there is reason to fear that, in 

 common with many other rivers, the Dee is steadily deteriorating as 

 regards the stock of Salmon. It is evident that as the income of the 

 conservators falls off so does their ability to preserve the river. In the 

 absence of funds they cannot pay watchers to guard it, and nowhere in 

 the kingdom is poaching more rife during the close season than in North 

 Wales. The state of affairs is serious, for when once a certain limit of 

 scarcity is reached on Salmon rivers, matters are likely to go from bad to 



