ind and had perished--for that they did perish I
found on the following day, when they were lying dead on the grass
by hundreds. Some of your correspondents who reside in localities
favourable for making observations on this subject may be induced
to pay attention to it; the exact appearance may be ascertained,
with probably other facts calculated to throw light on the obscure
question of their generation.

* * * * *

ON THE POSSIBILITY OF INTRODUCING SALMON INTO NEW ZEALAND AND
AUSTRALIA.

_October_, 1859.

The colonists of Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand appear to
wish for the introduction of Salmon and Trout into the rivers of
these colonies, and one of them, Tasmania, is said to have offered
the reward of L500 for the first pair of live Salmon which reaches
that colony. If this is true it is a liberal offer, and one that
is likely to induce various persons, both in England and France,
to make the attempt.

I should be sorry to say anything to check so laudable an
endeavour, but I greatly fear that Van Diemen's Land (to say
nothing of the Australian colonies) is too near the tropics to
offer a reasonable chance of success. I think it is practicable to
take these fish there (or at least fertilized ova), but I don't
think they would live and thrive in the rivers of that colony.
Never having been there, I can, of course, only reason from
European experience, but the best inquiries I can make lead me to
suppose that there are no Salmon in France (south of Brittany),
Spain, or any of the countries washed by the Mediterranean Sea;
and in America (although I confess I am not so well informed on
that country) I have never heard of Salmon being seen to the south
of the tributaries of the St. Lawrence. Supposing this to be so, I
think that we may fairly infer that if Salmon are not found south
of a certain latitude in Europe and America, it must be that the
climate of these southern countries is not congenial to the habits
of this fish. I believe, however, that the Trout lives and thrives
much further south than the Salmon; for instance, it is found in
the Pyrenees and in the lakes of Northern Italy (Lady M. W.
Montagu). It is also found in Northern Turkey, and probably
Albania also (Spencer); and therefore I think it is quite probable
that it might live in Tasmania--that is, if the streams are never
dried up and the rivers reduced to a number of water-holes, which
appears to be the case in Australia. Should this