42 THE LIFE OF THE SALMON 



short, but the condition of the fish exceptionally 

 poor. I noticed some grilse in Dundee market 

 which were, without exception, the worst-conditioned 

 grilse I have seen. On inquiry I found they had 

 been sent to Dundee from elsewhere for very 

 shame, I imagined. In the same year some salmon 

 on the north and east coasts, more especially about 

 Caithness, were remarkably tasteless and dry in the 

 flesh, and at the same time I noticed that the local 

 herring tasted apparently of nothing so much as saw- 

 dust. Now the presence of those poorly nourished 

 grilse and salmon is noteworthy in two respects : 

 first, simply because fish were entering rivers in a 

 poorly nourished state (although some poor fish I had 

 evidence of were caught in sea nets) ; and second, 

 because the actual numbers of grilse were deficient. 

 As a rule grilse on entering the mouths of rivers are 

 found to be charged with nutriment, pyloric appen- 

 dages loaded with fat, and stomach empty. At the 

 mouth of the Tweed, Tosh and Grey * found 4 per 

 cent, out of 231 male grilse and only 1 per cent, out of 

 188 female grilse with signs of recent feeding. Hoek 

 at the mouth of the Rhine, examined 2000 fish, and 

 found food in only seven. The highly nourished con- 

 dition has been regarded as in itself sufficient reason 

 for the ascent of fresh water. Dr. Noel Paton puts 

 it thus : f " When on the rich marine feeding 

 grounds as great a store of nourishment as the body 

 can carry has been accumulated, the fish returns to 



* Thirteenth Annual Report, Fishery Board for Scotland, 

 Part II. Note 2. 



f " Investigations on the Life History of the Salmon," 1898, 

 Special Eeport, Fishery Board for Scotland, 



