440 Mr. W. Thompson's Notes on British Char. 



The chief object of my inquiry was to learn whether, in the 

 lakes of Ireland and of those in Scotland* from which I could 

 procure specimens, the S. Salvelinus, Don, was to be found ; 

 and at the same time to ascertain, at least for my own satis- 

 faction, whether its characters have sufficient permanency to 

 entitle it to rank as a distinct species. As they are merely 

 crude unfinished notes that are to follow, I shall here give the 

 result of the investigation, that the reader may be in posses- 

 sion of it without entering into the details. In a fresh state 

 I have had the opportunity of examining Char from three lo- 

 calities — Windermere (England), Lough Melvin (Ireland), and 

 Loch Grannoch (Scotland) ; and either in spirits or preserved 

 dry, from nine other lakes in Ireland and Scotland. The ex- 

 amination of these examples leads me to believe that the S. Urn- 

 bla, Linn., and S. Salvelinus, Don, are but one species ; one 

 however that, like the Salmo Fario, is subject to extraordinary 

 variety. In one lake the male fish can at a glance be distin- 

 guished from the female either by colour or by the many cha- 

 racters which are comprised under " form/' In another, so 

 similar are the sexes in every external character, that without 

 the aid of dissection they cannot be determined. In size we 

 find the species ordinarily attain twice the length and several 

 times the weight t in one lake that it does in another, although 

 the area of their waters is of similar extent ; indeed, in some 

 of the largest lakes, this fish will be found not to attain near 

 the size it does in some others which are but as pools in com- 

 parison — there are, however, various influences which account 

 satisfactorily for such differences. In the form of the body 

 again we find the species, and when in equally high condition, 

 to be in one lake herring-like, and in another approximating 

 the roundness of the Eel. So manifold are the differences 

 presented by the Char now before me from various localities, 

 that it would be tedious and perhaps useless to point them 

 out in every case, and consequently this will only be attempt- 

 ed when they are remarkably striking, or particularly demand 

 attention. 



Oct. 25, 1836. — Through the kind attention of Captain 

 Fayrer, R.N., I today received two specimens of Char from 

 Loch Grannoch, Kircudbrightshire. On comparing them 

 critically with the detailed descriptions of our British Char 

 given by Yarrell and Jenyns, they were found to be both their 



* The fine work of Sir Wm. Jardine on the Scottish Salmonidce was not 

 at the time announced. 



f That the quantity of ova produced will vary accordingly, is illustrated 

 by the difference between the number found in the Loch Grannoch and the 

 Lough Melvin fish. 



