62 THE LIFE OF THE SALMON 



In dealing with the question of the short and the 

 long periods of sojourn in the sea, only one class of 

 particulars are reliable, the returns of fish marked 

 when kelts after spawning and recaptured as clean 

 fish in fresh waters or the mouths of rivers after the 

 termination of their sojourn in the sea. It happens 

 that in a combination of the Scottish and Irish 

 returns there are 117 recaptures of this class which 

 can be dealt with. In the following tables these 

 are separated into groups according to the years of 

 marking and recapture ; the records of fish marked 

 in certain rivers are placed together, and all fish of 

 short period are separated from fish of long period. 

 The details extracted are the numbers of the marks, 

 the intervals of time given in months, the increase 

 in weight, and the weights of the kelt marked. 

 Scottish and Irish results are given in parallel double 

 columns. 



