SAMLET, OR PARR. 
m 
an opinion on this point, as such a peculiarity could scarcely 
have escaped the notice of other observers, and in this instance 
it may have been only a casual malformation, and no oppor- 
tunity offered itself of following up the inquiry. It is certain 
however that in no case do the males possess the bent-up 
lower jaw which is so characteristic of the full-grown Salmon 
when the milt is enlarged; and in consequence the sexes are 
not to be readily distinguished. Such a one, however, I 
handed over to Mr. William Laughrin, A.L.S., for examination; 
and he afterwards assured me that the roe was considerably 
developed. 
In support of the opinions already expressed, we add the 
authority of Ephemera, already referred to, jointly with that of 
his friend Mr. Young, together with a description of what we 
believe to be the true Parr or Samlet, as compared with the 
Trout and young Salmon, as opportunity has been afforded us. 
Ephemera observes of his figure of the young Salmon of four 
inches in length, that “it resembles the little Trout called the 
Parr, but its fins are much longer than those of that little fish, 
and its whole shape is much less perfect. Not observing those 
marks of distinction has led to the confounding of Salmon fry 
with Parr; calling them indeed ‘Parr,’ as Mr. Shaw and his 
followers do; whereas the Parr is a distinct adult fish, of the 
river Trout species;” to which is added by Mr. Young, “a 
full-grown Parr is the length of a Salmon fry of nine months 
old; but its fins are little more than half the size of those 
of the fry. It is fuller and darker in the body, and in form 
like that of a well-shaped Common Trout. Its cross bars or 
finger-marks, as they are commonly called, lie closer together 
on the body than the transverse bars do on that of the Salmon 
fry.” 
Sir William Jardine has defined the differences between the 
Samlet and the Common Trout, of the latter of which the 
former was once as confidently believed to be a variety as by 
many it is now believed to be of the Salmon. But comparing 
the latter with it when of equal size, I find the front of the 
Samlet more blunt and round; the eye differently placed, as 
not so low and near the gape; gill-covers differently formed in 
their outline; pectoral fins more rounded. The vomerine teeth 
are also differently placed, and extend further back towards the 
