This fish which is a species of char or salmo umbla of Europe, has only been noticed heretofore in some of the lakes of Maine, although varieties of char are found in most of the waters of Canada and the far north. Its characteristic peculiarities were pointed out some years ago by Girard, who conferred on it its name after the original Indian title of the lake in which it is found, now known as the Rangeley. Although it is very like the trout in appearance, wanting only the distinctive scarlet or carmine specks, in habits it is quite dissimilar. It passes most of the year in the deep water, only coming to shore in October, and invariably at the same day to spawn. It then appears in countless numbers and crowds all the inlets and outlets of the lake. It remains only until the act of reproduction is complete when it returns to its ordinary resting place.

Its meat is said to be excellent and it is certainly very prolific. It is supposed to be the principal food of the brook trout of that region which attain the enormous weight of eight or ten pounds, the largest reached by any of the true brook trout in America.

A few of these fish have been lately sold in New York market. Before that they had not been an article of commerce, nor much prized as a delicacy even by the inhabitants of the country where they dwelt.

Its first dorsal fin is higher and narrower than that of the trout, its caudal is more forked and its sides have no carmine or vermillion specks, but instead large yellow spots which become a pale blue after the fish has been kept some time out of water. It makes its appearance in the outlets and inlets of the lake on the tenth day of October, when it comes up to spawn. It is punctual in its yearly re appearance for that purpose to the very day, and the inhabitants expect to draw much of their winter supplies of smoked and salted fish from its hordes. It averages from seven to nine inches in length - never more, and in weight three to four ounces.

In 1874 the Fishery Commissioners of Maine succeeded in obtaining 30,000 of the eggs of this variety, and as they had more than they needed, 5,000 of them were purchased for our state. We regret to say they did not reach the state hatching house in very good condition, nearly a thousand dying on the way or the day after their arrival. Some hundreds of them however, hatched out.

We have reason to believe that the blue backed trout is found in Oregon, and possibly in some of the lakes of Northern California, but its culture artificially, will not probably prove profitable.