the Salmon; a genus of the order of abdominales. The head is smooth, and furnished with teeth and a tongue; the rays of the gills are from four to ten; the back-fin is fat behind; and the belly-fins have many rays. There are 29 species, of which the most remarkable are,

1. The salar, or common salmon, is a northern fish, being unknown in the Mediterranean sea and other warm climates; it is found in France in some of the rivers that empty themselves into the ocean, and north as far as Greenland; they are also very common in Newfoundland, and the northern parts of North America. Salmons are taken in the rivers of Kamtchatka; but whether they are of the same species with the European kind, is not very certain. They are in several countries a great article of commerce, being cured different ways, by salting, pickling, and drying: there are stationary fisheries in Iceland, Norway, and the Baltic; but we believe nowhere greater than those at Colraine in Ireland; and in Great Britain, at Berwick and in some of the rivers of Scotland. The salmon was known to the Romans, but not to the Greeks. Pliny speaks of it as a fish found in the rivers of Aquitaine: Ausonius enumerates it among those of the Mosel. The salmon is a fish that lives both in the salt and fresh waters; quitting the sea at certain seasons for the sake of depositing its spawn in security, in the gravelly beds of rivers remote from their mouths. There are scarce any difficulties but what they will overcome, in order to arrive at places fit for their purpose: they will ascend rivers hundreds of miles, force themselves against the most rapid streams, and spring with amazing agility over cataracts of several feet in height. Salmon are frequently taken in the Rhine as high up as Basil; they gain the sources of the Lapland rivers in spite of their torrent-like currents, and surmount the perpendicular falls of Leixlip, Kennerth, and Pont Aberglaflyn. It may here be proper to contradict the vulgar error of their taking their tail in their mouth when they attempt to leap; such as Mr Pennant saw, sprung up quite straight, and with a strong tremulous motion.

The salmon is a fish so generally known, that a very brief description will serve. The largest we ever heard of weighed 74 pounds. The colour of the back and sides are grey, sometimes spotted with black, sometimes plain: the covers of the gills are subject to the same variety; the belly silvery; the nose sharp-pointed; the end of the under jaw in the males often turns up in the form of a hook; sometimes this curvature is very considerable: it is said that they lose this hook when they return to the sea. The teeth are lodged in the jaws and on the tongue, and are slender, but very sharp; the tail is a little forked.

2. The trutta, or sea-trout, migrates like the true salmon up several of our rivers; spawns, and returns to the sea. That described by Mr Pennant was taken in the Tweed below Berwick, June 1769. The shape was more thick than the common trout; the weight three pounds two ounces. The irides silver; they head thick, smooth, and dusky, with a glofs of blue and green; the back of the same colour, which grows fainter towards the side-line. The back is plain, but the sides as far as the lateral line are marked with large distinct irregularly-shaped spots of black: the lateral line straight; the sides beneath the line, and the belly, are white. Tail broad, and even at the end. The dorsal fin had 12 rays; the pectoral 14; the ventral 9; the anal 10. The flesh when boiled is of a pale red, but well-flavoured.

3. The fario, or trout; the colours of which vary greatly in different waters, and in different seasons. Trout differ also in size. One taken in Llynallet, Denbighshire, which is famous for an excellent kind, measured 17 inches, its depth three and three quarters, its weight one pound ten ounces; the head thick; the nose rather sharp; the upper jaw a little longer than the lower; both jaws, as well as the head, were of a pale brown, blotched with black; the teeth sharp and strong, disposed in the jaws, roof of the mouth, and tongue. The back was dusky; the sides tinged with a purplish bloom, marked with deep purple spots, mixed with black above and below the side-line which was straight; the belly white. The first dorsal fin was spotted; the spurious fin brown, tipped with red; the pectoral, ventral, and anal fins, of a pale brown; the edges of the anal fin white; the tail very little forked when extended.—The stomachs of the common trouts are uncommonly thick and muscular. They feed on the shell-fish of lakes and rivers, as well as on small fish. They likewise take into their stomachs gravel or small stones, to assist in comminuting the teetaceous parts of their food. The trouts of certain lakes in Ireland, such as those of the province of Galway and some others, are remarkable for the great thickness of their stomachs, which, from some slight resemblance to the organs of digestion in birds, have been called gizzard-trouts; the Irish name the species that has them, gillaroo trouts. These stomachs are sometimes served up to table under the former appellation. Trouts are most voracious fish, and afford excellent diversion to the angler. The passion for the sport of angling is so great in the neighbourhood of London, that the liberty of fishing in some of the streams in the adjacent counties is purchased at the rate of 10l. per annum. These fish shift their quarters to spawn; and like salmon, make up towards the heads of rivers to deposit their roes. The under jaw of the trout is subject, at certain times, to the same curvature as that of the salmon.

4. The species, called from its colour the white, migrates out of the sea into the river Esk in Cumberland, from July to September. When dressed, their flesh is red, and most delicious eating. They have, on their first appearance from the salt water, the terrene salmons, or salmon louse, adhering to them. They have both milk and spawn; but no fry has as yet been observed. This is the fish called by the Scots phines. They never exceed a foot in length. The upper jaw is a little longer than the lower; in the first are two rows of teeth, in the last one; on the tongue are six teeth. The back is straight; the whole body of an elegant form; the lateral line is straight; colour, between that and the top of the back, dusky and silvery intermixed; beneath the line, of an exquisite whiteness; first dorsal fin spotted with black; tail black, and much forked.

5. The smelt is the least of the trout kind; is frequent in the Wye, in the upper part of the Severn, and the rivers that run into it, in the north of England, and in Wales. It is by several imagined to be the fry of the salmon; but Mr Pennant differs from that opinion. See his Brit. Zool. III. 303.

This species has a general resemblance to the trout, therefore must be described comparatively. 1st, The head is proportionably narrower, and the mouth less than that of the trout. 2ndly, Their body is deeper. 3rdly, They seldom exceed six or seven inches in length; at most, eight and a half. 4thly, The pectoral fins have generally but one large black spot, though sometimes a single small one attends it; whereas the pectoral fins of the trout are more numerously marked. 5thly, The spurious or fat fin on the back is never tipped with red; nor is the edge of the anal fin white. 6thly, The spots on the body are fewer, and not so bright: it is also marked from the back to the sides with six or seven large bluish bars; but this is not a certain character, as the same is sometimes found in young trouts. 7thly, The tail of the smelt is much more forked than that of the trout. These fish are very frequent in the rivers of Scotland, where they are called pars. They are also common in the Wye, where they are known by the name of shirlings, or laffringes.

6. The alpinus, or charr, is an inhabitant of the lakes of the north, and of those of the mountainous parts of Europe. It affects clear and pure waters, and is very rarely known to wander into running streams, except into such whose bottom is similar to the neighbouring lake. It is found in vast abundance in the cold lakes on the summits of the Lapland Alps, and is almost the only fish that is met with in any plenty in those regions; where it would be wonderful how they subsisted, had not Providence supplied them with innumerable larva of the gnat kind: these are food to the fish, who in their turn are a support to the migratory Laplanders in their summer-voyages to the distant lakes. In such excursions those vacant people find a luxurious and ready repast in these fish, which they dress and eat without the addition of sauces; for exercise and temperance render useless the inventions of epicurism. There are but few lakes in our island that produce this fish; and even those not in any abundance. It is found in Winander Mere in Westmoreland; in Llyn Quellyn, near the foot of Snowdon; and, before the discovery of the copper-mines, in those of Llynberis; but the mineral streams have entirely destroyed the fish in the last lakes. In Scotland it is found in Loch Inch, and other neighbouring lakes, and is said to go into the Spey to spawn.

"The largest and most beautiful we ever received (says Mr Pennant) were taken in Winender Mere, and were communicated by the Rev. Mr Farrish of Carlisle, with an account of their natural history. He sent five specimens; two under the name of the cafe charr, male and female; another he called the gelt charr, i.e. a charr which had not spawned the preceding season, and on that account is reckoned to be in the greatest perfection. The two others were inscribed, the red charr, the silver or gelt charr, the carpia lacus benact, Rati Syn. p. 66. which last are in Westmoreland distinguished by the epithet red, by reason of the flesh assuming a higher colour than the other when dressed.

"The umbla minor, or cafe charr, spawns about Michaelmas, and chiefly in the river Brathy, which uniting with another called the Rowthay, about a quarter of a mile above the lake, they both fall into it together. The Brathy has a black, rocky bottom; the bottom of the Rowthay is a bright sand, and into this the charr are never observed to enter. Some of them, however, spawn in the lake; but always in such parts of it which are honey, and resemble the channel of the Brathy. They are supposed to be in the highest perfection about May, and continue so all the summer; yet are rarely caught after April. When they are spawning..." spawning in the river they will take a bait, but at no other time; being commonly taken, as well as the other species, in what they call break-netts, which are in length about 24 fathoms, and about 5 where broadest.—The season which the other species spawn in is from the beginning of January to the end of March. They are never known to ascend the rivers, but always in those parts of the lake which are springy, where the bottom is smooth and sandy, and the water warmest. The fishermen judge of this warmth, by observing that the water seldom freezes in the places where they spawn except in intense frosts, and then the ice is thinner than in other parts of the lake. They are taken in greatest plenty from the end of September to the end of November; at other times they are hardly to be met with. This species is much more esteemed for the table than the other, and is very delicate when potted.

The length of the red char to the division in its tail, was 12 inches; its biggest circumference almost 7. The first dorsal fin was five inches and three quarters from the tip of its nose, and consisted of 12 branched rays, the first of which was short, the fifth the longest; the fat fin was very small. Each of the five fish had double nostrils, and small teeth in the jaws, roof of the mouth, and on the tongue.—The jaws of the case-char are perfectly even; on the contrary, those of the red-char were unequal, the upper jaw being the broadest, and the teeth hung over the lower, as might be perceived on passing the finger over them.—The gelt or barren char, was rather more slender than the others, as being without spawn. The back was of a gloomy dusky blue; the sides silvery, mixed with blue, spotted with pale red; the sides of the belly were of a pale red, the bottom white. The tails of each bifurcated.”

7. The thymalus, or grayling, haunts clear and rapid streams, and particularly those that flow through mountainous countries. It is found in the rivers of Derbyshire; in some of those of the north; in the Tame near Ludlow; in the Log, and other streams near Leominster; and in the river near Chichester, Hampshire. It is also very common in Lapland: the inhabitants make use of the guts of this fish instead of netting, to make the cheese which they get from the milk of the rein deer. It is a voracious fish, rises freely to the fly, and will very eagerly take a bait. It is a very swift swimmer, and disappears like the transient passage of a shadow, from whence we believe it derived the name of umbra.

Efugicaque oculos veluti levius umbra natatur. AUSON.

The umbra swift escapes the quickest eye.

Thymalus and thymus, are names bestowed on it on account of the imaginary scent, compared by some to that of thyme; but we never could perceive any particular smell. It is a fish of an elegant form; less deep than that of a trout: the largest we ever heard of was taken near Ludlow, which was about half a yard long, and weighed four pounds six ounces; but this was a very rare instance. The irides are silvery, tinged with yellow: the teeth very minute, seated in the jaws and the roof of the mouth, but none on the tongue: the head is dusky; the covers of the gills of a gloomy green: the back and sides of a fine silvery grey; but when the fish is just taken, varied slightly with blue and gold: the side-line is straight: the scales are large, and the lower edges dusky, forming straight rows from head to tail: the tail is much forked.

8. The eperlanus, or smelt, inhabits the seas of the northern parts of Europe, and probably never is found so far south as the Mediterranean: the Scine is one of the French rivers which receive it; but whether it is found south of that, we have not at present authority to say. If we can depend on the observations of navigators, who generally have too much to think of to attend to the minutiae of natural history, these fish are taken in the straits of Magellan, and of a most surprising size, some measuring 20 inches in length, and 8 in circumference. They inhabit the seas that wash these islands the whole year, and never go very remote from shore, except when they ascend the rivers. It is remarked in certain rivers, that they appear a long time before they spawn, being taken in great abundance in November, December, and January, in the Thames and Dee, but in others not till February; and in March and April they spawn; after which they all return to the salt water, and are not seen in the rivers till the next season. It has been observed, that they never come into the Mersey as long as there is any snow-water in the river. These fish vary greatly in size; but the largest we ever heard of was 13 inches long, and weighed half a pound. They have a very particular scent, from whence is derived one of their English names, smelt, i.e. smell it. That of sparling, which is used in Wales and the north of England, is taken from the French sparlan. There is a wonderful disagreement in the opinion of people in respect to the scent of this fish: some assert it flavours of the violet; the Germans, for a very different reason, distinguish it by the elegant title of flinckysch. Smelts are often sold in the streets of London split and dried. They are called dried sparlings; and are recommended as a relish to a glass of wine in the morning. It is a fish of a very beautiful form and colour; the head is transparent, and the skin in general so thin, that with a good microscope the blood may be observed to circulate. The irides are silvery; the pupil of a full black; the under jaw is the longest; in the front of the upper jaw are four large teeth; those in the sides of both are small; in the roof of the mouth are two rows of teeth; on the tongue two others of large teeth. The scales are small, and readily drop off; the tail consists of 19 rays, and is forked. The colour of the back is whitish, with a cast of green, beneath which it is varied with blue, and then succeeds a beautiful glost of a silvery hue.

9. The lavaretus, or gwinis, is an inhabitant of several of the lakes of the alpine parts of Europe. It is found in those of Switzerland, Savoy, and Italy; of Norway, Sweden, Lapland, and Scotland; in those of Ireland, and of Cumberland; and in Wales, in that of Llyngeid, near Bala, in Merionethshire. It is the same with the ferra of the lake of Geneva; the schelly of Hulfe-waters; the pollen of Lough Neagh; and the vangis and juvengis of Loch Mabon. The Scots have a tradition, that it was first introduced there by the beauteous queen, their unhappy Mary Stuart; and as in her time the Scots court was much Frenchified, it seems likely that the name was derived from the French vendisse, a “dace,” to which a slight observer might be tempted to compare it, from the whiteness of its scales. The British name gwyniad, or whitling, was bestowed upon it for the same reason.

It is a gregarious fish, and approaches the shores in vast shoals in spring and in summer; which proves in many places a blessed relief to the poor of island countries, in the same degree as the annual return of the herring is to those who inhabit the coasts. Between 7000 and 8000 have been taken at one draught. The gwyniad is a fish of an insipid taste, and must be eaten soon, for it will not keep long; those that choose to preserve them do it with salt. They die very soon after they are taken. Their spawning season in Llynegid is in December. The largest gwyniad ever heard of weighed between three and four pounds: the head is small, smooth, and of a dusky hue: the eyes very large; the pupil of a deep blue: the nose blunt at the end; the jaws of equal length: the mouth small and toothless: the branchiostegal rays nine: the covers of the gills silvery, powdered with black. The back is a little arched, and slightly carinated: the colour, as far as the lateral line, is glossed with deep blue and purple; but towards the lines assumes a silvery cast, tinged with gold; beneath which those colours entirely prevail. The tail is very much forked: the scales are large, and adhere close to the body.