74 



ME. F. DAT ON THE LOCH-LEVEN TEOUT. 



of a trout taken April 27th, 1841, that weighed 10 lb., being 

 27 inches long and 17 inches in girth. We are likewise told of 

 the fish in this lake, that their superiority in quality is not 

 confined solely to the Loch-Leven trout proper, but is to be 

 observed in the common trout, and even in the pike, perch, and 

 eels ; also that the trout of Loch Leven do not continue to 

 exhibit the same distinctive superiority when they are removed 

 to other waters. In new quarters, however favourable such may 

 appear to be, they are said to invariably deteriorate and lose 

 much of their quality. 



The peculiarly excellent food in the water at Loch Leven has 

 been supposed to consist of a small reddish-coloured mollusk, 

 believed to be restricted to the shallow shingly beds lying near 

 to the shores (the form here alluded to would seem to be a 

 LimncBo), and the sessile-eyed crustacean, "screw" or "water- 

 shrimp," Gammarus. Mr. Wilson concluded that it was owing 

 to the abundant and perpetual breeding of these and other 

 living creatures that the trout in question owed their supe- 

 riority. A fisherman, however, who had the management of the 

 curing of the trout, and had observed the food taken from their 

 stomachs, remarked that he had never observed any small shells, 

 but mostly worms, minnows, perch, and young trout. Further- 

 more, evidence was adduced by fish-dealers and others who had 

 been regularly supplied with trout, both before and since the drain- 

 age, who distinctly stated that they could observe no deteriora- 

 tion whatever in the fish. Parnell, however, held a dilferent 

 view ; and there cannot be a doubt that the stock of fish largely 

 diminished from some cause. 



Whether this form is or is not the Salmo Cumberland of La- 

 cepede, in his ' Histoire Naturelle des Poissons,' vol. v. p. 696, 

 cannot now be determined from the meagre description which 

 has been handed down to us ; but that author described it as 

 having a small head, wlnte flesh, and being externally of a grey 

 colour. A correspondent of Loudon's 'Magazine of Natural 

 History,' 1832, vol. v. p. 317, remarked upon a form of trout 

 which was found in Ulswater and Windermere, termed by the 

 residents a " grey trout " and having the habits of a char, which 

 he likened to Lacepede's fish, and asserted was captured up 

 to 20 lb. weight. Parnell in 1838, I. c, appears to be the first 

 who scientifically investigated this form of trout, and from 

 his remarks we learn that he considered "the difi*erences that 



