bluish steel colour of the body, with but fewish spots (vol. ii. p. 177). Oddly enough, however, a little before another writer, who proves the existence of this separate species, is quoted. This writer thus states the differences between the common trout and the great lake trout: The larger he (the common trout) grows the less he really resembles the great lake type. His increase is lateral rather than longitudinal. But the lake trout never loses his noble athletic and artistic proportions. In these characteristic qualities he runs with salar and trutta themselves. Into rivers or brooks, except for the purpose of making them tributary to the propagation of his young, he never wanders even in the lower reaches of rivers discharging into the lakes he inhabits. I have never met him in the summer months.' But it will be noticed that the characteristics of the Salmo ferox of this writer are wholly opposed to those of the writer previously quoted, and that the peculiar habit of not entering into rivers is in truth an argument against the existence of a separate species, since to remain in the depths of the lakes shows that he is a shy and large specimen of the ordinary trout. But we said previously that a small ferox is unknown. In the same volume it is stated that in the parr or early stage of growth it is very difficult, if not impossible, to distinguish between the young of the Salmo ferox and of the common trout. But if the characteristics of the so-called separate species are the same in youth, it clearly lies on those who aver that two separate species exist to prove conclusively that the differences in age do not arise from the effect of food, habits, or length of years, having regard to the fact, which has now been proved to demonstration, that in colour and form the ordinary trout is subject to variation through the influence of food and locality. We have dwelt upon the question of the existence of the Salmo ferox as a distinct species because it is one which it might have been supposed was of an elementary kind and could be disposed of without difficulty. It shows, however, that the mass of recorded fact has not yet produced agreement, and that the data of the most eminent naturalists are in truth uncertain. Yarrell,' writes Dr. Hamilton, makes ferox a distinct species, as having 13 dorsal 'rays instead of 14, with a different form of scale. Günther 'makes a difference of vertebræ-56-57 in S. ferox, 59-60 in S. fario. But Day asserts that there are undoubted specimens of Salmo fario with 13-15 rays on the dorsal and with 56-60 vertebræ.' When such eminent authodiffer we do not propose to arrive at a conclusion. Again, it is by no means certain that some day the socalled Loch Leven trout, which even so eminent an authority as Dr. Günther considers as a separate species, and which is at present generally accepted as such, may not turn out to be the common trout affected by locality. Because, as we have more than once said, the cardinal fact, which certainly is proved beyond doubt, is the effect of locality on the trout. It is customary to place the young of this trout in various waters in order to improve the quality and appearance of the local fish. At the various fish nurseries which have come into existence during the last ten years great pains have been taken to cultivate this breed, and it is contended that its introduction into other waters has improved the quality of the trout in such places, causing their flesh to become pink and firm. But it was pointed out early in this century by Sir Humphry Davy--whose opinions are always worth careful consideration, because he added the training of a learned and scientific observer to the ordinary gifts of sight of a keen and enthusiastic angler-that trout when placed in a different water from that in which they have been produced would not at once change their characters, but would do so gradually; and he proceeds to state that he has known trout so transferred which have gradually deteriorated, so that in about twenty years the variety was entirely lost and all the fish were in their original white state. Sir Humphry Davy, therefore, clearly regarded what may be termed the process of deterioration under the influence of locality as one which might not become really noticeable until so long a period as twenty years had elapsed. Thus it is obvious that it is yet impossible to generalise upon the influence of the change of trout from water to water with anything like certainty, and that before any distinct conclusion is reached many years full of careful, prolonged, and analysed observations must elapse. The angler naturalist has yet many facts to verify, and we think our readers who have not hitherto gone into details will be surprised at the opportunity which exists for the settlement by accurate observations and records of so many disputed points in this branch of natural history. And if in this old country we are not yet able to agree on these comparatively simple problems of natural history, how large a field of investigation, of argument, and of dogmatism lies open before many generations of our successors as the unknown lands of Africa and Asia become gradually accessible to the naturalist and the sportsman. Avg. XI.--1. Life in Parliament, being the experience of a Member in the House of Commons from 1886 to 1892 inclusive. By Sir RICHARD TEMPLE, Bart., M.P., G.C.S.I., C.I.E., 1 L.D. London: 1893. 2. Essays on the Questions of the Day, Political and Social. The Political Crisis in England. By GOLDWIN SMITH. New York and London: 1893. close of last year leaves after it a retrospect of Tbattled assaults on the Constitution of the realm and the integrity of the United Kingdom-a record of unexampled labour and unmitigated failure. Eight months of weary debate were spent on an impossible Bill, which served only to exhibit to the nation its manifold absurdities, inconsistencies, and dangers. The measure was at last forced through the House of Commons by arbitrary and unparliamentary proceedings, and this raw and ill-digested scheme was sent up to the House of Lords, where it instantly met its doom, to the great and general satisfaction of the country. No attempt was made to challenge that sentence, which had been foreseen from the beginning of the contest, and many even of the supporters of the Bill acquiesced in it with pleasure. Home Rule dropped for the present out of sight. The great mandate,' to carry a Bill Mr. Gladstone avowed to be the sole object of his political existence, was forgotten; and an attempt was made to divert the attention of the Ministerial party to other objects. For Mr. Gladstone was not yet satisfied. He added to the labours of a most unproductive Session an uncalled for adjournment to the late . on, for the purpose of tampering with parochial charities and restricting the liberty of British workmen. Under the simple title of a Parish Councils Bill, a measure wa. miroduced bristling with intricate details and farAng consequences; but so clumsily was it drawn that w authors were compelled to smother it with amendBut here again Mr. Gladstone was foiled. No .. been arrived at when the year ended, and the Jonary still finds the House of Commons flounderha blunders of 1893. Then, indeed, the powers bance were overstrained. The Speaker was Chair by sheer exhaustion, which was shared of the House. Three hundred members 've from attendance. We have to A A J At least one accomplished and amiable statesman who fell a victim to this cynical and brutal policy. The Ministerial majority, consisting entirely of the Irish faction, reigns supreme over English affairs; and the continuance of the Session through the winter already blights the promise of the coming year. It seems probable that the Session of 1894 will open about three weeks before Easter. That fact alone annuls all the pledges thrown out to lure the unwary, for there will be no time to redeem them, and the discussion of the Budget will be at hand. Is this legislation? Is this government? Yet there never was a moment when great imperial and social interests demanded a more active and vigilant attention, and we scarcely need to be reminded by Mr. Goldwin Smith in his powerful essay that England is in presence of a crisis of no ordinary gravity. The augmentation of the navy, the administrative organisation of the army, the relations of the Queen's Government with the African Chartered Companies, the finances of India, the finances at home, the silver question, the increasing exactions of the Trades' Unions, and our foreign relations, all demand the firm grasp of a statesman of cool, collected, and comprehensive mind, in the full vigour of his powers; for these are questions immeasurably more important to the vital interests of the Empire than the speculative reforms which have absorbed. and wasted the whole time of Parliament. At home we are confronted with a falling revenue, with a great trade depression. South of Yorkshire, the farmers have seldom had worse times than those they have lately experienced. We see workmen clamouring for work, for whom no work can be found. The great strife in the coal trade between capital and labour, causing the loss of many millions, and carrying distress into a multitude of other trades, seemed for a time likely to cause almost irreparable disaster to the great industries of the country. That strife has been patched up for the moment, rather than healed; and in a few weeks more it may be again renewed. On the Continent of Europe, nations armed to the teeth are confronting each other. France and Russia have displayed, in a manner almost unprecedented, the warmth of sentiment that unites them. A Russian fleet appears to have become a permanent addition to the naval squadrons of the Mediterranean, at the very time that the public were surprised by the disclosure of the vast increase in recent years to the naval strength of France. Between France and England difficulties have occurred in the far East, which might easily have given rise to something worse than strained relations. Whether those difficulties have been surmounted in a fashion satisfactory to England—whether our national prestige, so all-important to our position in Asia, has been upheld-and whether such arrangements have been arrived at as will secure future harmony between the rival powers, are matters of the first importance about which, as yet, the Ministry has given us no information. Mr. Gladstone and his Cabinet are supposed to enjoy the 'confidence of the House of Commons.' But, alas, it is in the House of Commons itself that the people have largely lost their trust! In the name of wonder, what is the meaning of this moral influenza which has attacked the House of Commons? What is the reason of its legislative paralysis? Why is it abdicating functions that belong to it as the great council of the nation? It was to Parliament, and to the House of Commons especially, that Englishmen used to turn when the political horizon was dark. But now men see only that their representatives have been labouring for the last eleven months with scarcely an intermission, at what? First of all, in endeavouring to found a new constitution upon the dreams of an octogenarian Prime Minister, and latterly in the more prosaic occupation of providing machinery to transact the local business of English parishes. In their first labour, though their exertions were gigantic, they naturally failed. In their last, though they have been toiling like galley slaves, they have not yet succeeded. What has come over the House of Commons? Has that famous assembly permanently descended from its high place, the greatest and wisest representative council which the world has seen? Is the House of Commons, after so many centuries of renown, to lose credit with Englishmen, for the reason a sufficient one, if it is true-that it no longer fulfils the functions which they have a right to expect from it? A House of Commons which, within the memory of more than one of its present members, has been three times reformed, which, much more than in the days of pre-reform parliaments, truly reflects the varied interests, aspirations, and prejudices of every section of the community! A House of Commons entirely free from every suspicion of that corruption which once cast so deep a shadow over its good name! A House of Commons chosen by electors, effectually protected from those influences of intimidation and direct bribery, in former times such potent factors in its constitution! A thoroughly representative House of Commons, a pure House |