SALMO. 
*lew, is chiefly an inhabitant of the northern 
regions,' where it occurs at different periods 
both in salt and fresh waters *; quitting the 
sea at certain seasons to deposit its spawn in 
the gravelly beds of rivers, at a great distance 
from their mouths. In order to arrive at the 
spots proper for this purpose, there are 
scarcely any obstacles which the fish will not 
surmount. ’ They will ascend rivers for hun- 
dreds of miles ; force themselves against the 
most rapid streams, and spring with amazing 
agility over cataracts of several feet in height. 
They are taken, according to Mr. Pennant, 
in the Rhine as high as Basil; they gain the 
sources of the Lapland rivers, in spite of their 
torrent-like currents ; they surpass the per- 
pendicular falls of Leix tip, Kennerth, and 
Pont Aberglastyn. At the latter of these 
places, Mr. Pennant assures us that he has 
himself witnessed the efforts of the salmon, 
and seen scores ot fish, some of which sue- j 
ceeded, while others miscarried in the at- j 
tempt during the time of his observation. It 
may be added, that the salmon, like the 
swallow, is said to return each season to the 
6elt-same spot to deposit its spawn. I his has 
been ascertained by the experiments of 
Monsr. De la Lande, who fastening a small 
ring of copper to the tails of some individu- 
als,' and then setting them at liberty, found 
that some of them made their appearance in 
the same place for three succeeding seasons. 
The experiment of fastening gold or silver 
rings to salmon is said by Dr. Bloch to have 
been occasionally practised by some of the 
Eastern princes, and it is added that by this 
method a communication has been proved 
between the Caspian and Northern seas and 
the Persian Guft. 
The general history of the salmon-fishery 
on the river Tweed, is amply detailed by Mr. 
Pennant. “At the latter end of the year, or 
in the month of November, the salmon begin 
to press up the river as far as they can reach, 
in order to spawn. When that time ap- 
proaches they seek for a place fit for the pur- 
pose ; the male and female unite in forming a 
proper receptacle tor it in the sand or gravel, 
about the depth of 18 inches. In this the 
female deposits the spawn, which they after- 
wards cover carefully up by means of their 
tails, which are observed to have no skin on 
them for some time after this period. The 
spawn lies buried till spring, if not disturbed 
by violent floods, but the salmon hasten to 
the sea as soon as they are able, in order to 
recover their strength ; for after spawning 
they are observed to become very lean, and 
are then called by the name of kippers. When 
the salmon first enter the rivers they are ob- 
served to have a great many small animals 
adhering to them, especially about the gills: 
these are the lernirw salmonese of Linnaeus, 
and arc signs that the fish is in high season : 
soon after the salmon have leit the sea, the 
lernseie die, and drop off. About the latter 
end of March the spawn begins to exclude 
the young, which gradually increase to the 
length of four or five inches, and are then 
called smelts or smouts. About the begin- 
ning of May, the river is full of them ; it 
seems to be all alive ; and there is no having 
an idea ot their numbers without seeing them ; 
but a seasonable flood then hurries them all 
to sea, scarcely any or very few of them be- 
ing left in the river. About the middle of 
June the earliest of the fry begin to drop 
11 
into the river again from the sea, at that 
time about twelve, fourteen, or sixteen inches 
in length, and by a gradual progress, increase 
in number and size, till about the end of 
July, which is at Berwick termed the gilse 
time (the name given to the fish at that age). 
At the end of July, or the beginning of Au- 
gust, they lessen in number, but increase in 
size, some being six, seven, eight, or nine 
pounds weight. This appears to be a sur- 
p ising growth ; yet we have received from a 
gentleman at Warrington an instance still 
more so. A salmon weighing seven pounds 
three quarters, taken on the seventh of Fe- 
bruary, being marked with scissars on the 
back fin and tail, and turned into the river, 
was again taken on the 17th of the following 
March, and then found to weigh seventeen 
pounds and a half. 
“ All fishermen agree that they never find 
anv food in t lie stomach of this fish. Perhaps 
during the spawning-time, they may entirely 
neglect their food, as the phone, called sea- 
lions and sea-bears, are known lo do for 
months together during the breeding-season ; 
and it may be that, like those animals, the 
salmon return to sea lank and lean, and come 
from it in good condition. It is evident that 
at times their food is both fish and worms, tor 
the angler uses both with good success, as 
well as a large gaudy artificial fly, which the 
fish probably mistakes for a gay libellula or 
dragon-fly. The capture about the Tweed 
is prodigious in a good fishery. Some few 
years ago there were above seven hundred 
fish taken at one hawl, but from fifty to a 
hundred is very frequent.” See Fishery, 
Vol. 1, p. 736. 
The general length of the salmon is from 
two and a half to three feet, but sometimes 
much more. The male is principally dis- 
tinguished by the curvature of the jaws ; botli 
the upper and lower mandible bending to- 
wards each other more or less in different in- 
dividuals, and at differed seasons. The ge- 
neral colour of both sexes is a silvery grey, of 
a much darker cast on the back ; the sides of 
the male are marked with numerous, small, 
irregular, dusky, and copper-coloured spots, 
while those of the female exhibit only several 
rather large, distant, roundish, or somewhat 
lunated spots of a dark colour. Exclusive of 
these differences, the male is of a somewhat 
longer or more slender shape than the female. 
The scales in the salmon are middle-sized, 
and not very strongly adherent. 
In the intestinal canal of the salmon is often 
found a species of tnenia, or tape-worm, of 
about three feet in length. Dr. Bloch informs 
us that in a salmon which had been three 
weeks dead, he found one of those worms still 
living. See Plate Nat. Hist. fig. 349- 
2. Salmo trutta, salmon-trout, greatly allied 
in point of general appearance to the salmon, 
but rarely of equal size; colour purplish or 
violet, with the head and whole body pretty 
thickly marked with rather small round dark 
or blackish spots, surrounded by a paler cir- 
cle ; scales rather small. Native of the Eu- 
ropean seas, passing, like the salmon, into 
rivers to deposit its spawn ; is of equal deli- 
cacy with the salmon, and the flesh of similar 
colour; varies occasionally bothfin colour and 
spots, which are sometimes rather angular 
than round ; possesses a considerable degree 
of phosphoric quality, which seems to reside 
in the viscid mucus covering the skin. Like 
613 
the salmon, this fish is prepared in different 
methods for sale, being sold both fresh ana 
salted, as well as smoked, pickled, &c. &c. 
3. Salmo fario, common trout. The trout 
is an inhabitant of clear and cold streams amt 
lakes in most parts of Europe, and admits or 
considerable variety as to the tinge both ot Us 
ground-colour and spots. Its general lengtti 
is from six to fifteen or sixteen inches, and Us 
colour yellowish-grey, darker or. browner oil 
the back, and marked on the sides by several 
rather distant, round, bright-red spots, each 
surrounded by a tinge ot pale-blue 
Sometimes the ground-colour ot the body is 
a purplish grey; the red spots much iaigci, 
more or less mixed with black, and the bel J 
of a white or silvery cast; the fins are ot a 
pale purplish brown ; the dorsal fin market 
with several darker spots; the head is rather 
larger in proportion than that of the salmon, 
the scales small, and the lateral line straight. 
The female fish is of a brighter and more 
beautiful appearance than the male. 
Mr. Pennant informs us that in the lake 
Llyndivi in South Wales are trouts marked 
with red and black spots as large as sixpences ; 
and others unspotted and ot a reddish hue, v 
sometimes weighing near ten pounds; but 
these latter are said to be bad-tasted. 
In general the trout prefers dear, cold, and 
briskly-running waters, with a stony or giu- 
velly bottom. It swims with rapidity, and, 
like the salmon, springs occasionally to a very 
considerable height in order to surmount any 
obstacle in its course. It lives on worms, 
small fishes, shell-fish, and aquatic insects, 
and is particularly delighted with May-flies 
(ephemerae), as well as with phryganeae, gnats, 
and their larvae. It generally spawns in Sep- 
tember, or in the colder parts of Europe, in 
October, and at those times gets among the 
roots of trees, stones, &c. in order to deposit 
its eggs, which are observed to be tar less 
numerous than those ot other river-fish. - Yet 
the trout, as Bloch observes, is a fish that ad- 
mits of very considerable- increase ; owing, 
no doubt, to the circumstance of most of the 
voracious kind of fishes avoiding waters oi so 
cold a nature as those which trouts delight to 
inhabit; and their increase would be still 
greater, were they not themselves of a vora- 
cious disposition, frequently preying even on 
each other. 
The merit of the trout as an article of food 
is too well known to require particular notice. 
In this respect, however, as in other fishes, 
those are most esteemed which are natives of 
the clearest waters. . 
The stomach of this fish is uncommonly 
strong and thick ; but this circumstance is 
observed to be no where so remarkable as in 
those found in some ot the Irish lakes, and 
particularly in those of the county of Galway. 
These are called giflaroo trouts ; on the most 
accurate examination, however, it does not 
appear that they are specifically different from 
the common trout ; but by living much on 
shell fish, and swallowing small stones at the 
same time, their stomachs acquire a much 
greater degree of thickness, and a kind of 
muscular appearance, so as to resemble a sort 
of gizzard. 
Mr. Pennant observes, that it is a matter of 
surprise that the trout, though so common a 
fish, should appear to be unnoticed by the 
antients, except Ausonius, who is supposed to 
