02 PHYSOSTOMI. 



ascent, or if it did the groat probabilities are that as the water became low it 

 would be knocked on the head. And though he supposes these early fish breed 

 similar descendants, we have but little proof of it, although many excellent 

 fishermen hold the same view. In some Irish rivers the breed of early fish was 

 almost extinguished by allowing the nets to capture all for a season or two, when 

 it very soon came to the point that there was nothing to capture. 



Kelts and what to do with them has exercised many minds, and I cannot 

 resist thinking that, doubtless, unintentionally, the opinion of some of our older 

 authors have been either misunderstood or misquoted. Without more than 

 just touching upon this subject it seems that it may be divided as follows : That 

 the salmon subsequent to the spawning season becomes sickly, and is as well 

 destroyed as kept ; that while mending it consumes more young salmon, trout, 

 and other fish than it is worth ; that kelts might be eaten. 



After spawning salmon becomes much exhausted and very easily susceptible 

 to disease and capture. It has been proposed to kill all the male kelts from the 

 commencement of February; and all of either sex from the commencement of March. 

 That the act of fertilizing ova is not invariably fatal to the salmon appears easy 

 of proof, for the male parr possesses milt capable of fecundating ova. It is, 

 therefore, evident that such must be evacuated or retained, and if the latter 

 disease would be induced. Trout kept in confinement may be spawned more 

 than once, omitting the consideration of whether such only takes place on 

 alternate years. A correspondent of the Field observed, " a few years ago a fine 

 male fish of about 20 lb. was used for spawning purposes at Stormontfield ; a 

 mark was put on him by means of a copper wire, and two years afterwards he 

 was got when nearly 30 lb. weight on the same ford and at the same season ; and, 

 after doing duty again was returned to the river, hale and strong, but was not 

 traced afterwards." 



Mr. Brown records how, on May 4, 1861, he hooked a kelt weighing 161b., 

 and having fastened round his tail a copper medal, on which was stamped " Athol, 

 No. 78." It had been caught on the preceding April 1, when it only weighed 

 13^ lb., thus showing an increase of 2h lb. in five weeks. The results of the Duke 

 of Athol's experiments are too well known to need recapitulating. Dr. Gunther 

 suggests that old males or those possessing a hook to the mandible, perish after 

 the efforts of propagation, and cites the observations of Stella, Pallas, and 

 Richardson on the salmonoids of Kamtschatka and North- Western America. 

 He observes of kelted salmon : " Probably those which reach the sea alive perish 

 there." Sir John Richardson, however, remarked : " The destruction by poachers 

 in the higher parts of the rivers of the large enfeebled kelts, or fish which have 

 completed their spawning operations, is also extremely prejudicial, for these 

 individuals (almost utterly useless as food at the time alluded to) would, if 

 allowed to descend to the salubrious sea, ere long revisit their native streams, 

 greatly increased in size, and full of health and vigour." 



During the period a kelt is mending it lives mostly on small fish, especially 

 young salmon and trout ; and Mr. Francis Francis suggests whether, this being the 

 case, it is worth its keep. That by destroying so many small fish, the kelt, it is 

 true, may return of a larger size, but it is questionable whether the river regains 

 so great an aggregate weight of salmon as if numbers of the kelts were 

 slaughtered. 



It has likewise been proposed that people should be permitted to kill and eat 

 these kelts, which otherwise probably become lost as food. But prior to such a 

 proceeding being sanctioned, it might not be amiss to inquire whether they would 

 be wholesome. Certainly a correspondent of the Field remarks : " I was going 

 to Ilfracombe lately, and saw many old back fish being hawked about. These 

 old salmon come back to the tidal waters to recover before going to sea, and are 

 caught by the score, and have been sold for fourpence a pound." But if eaten 

 they may occasion poisonous symptoms. Thus Buckland relates how a water- 

 bailiff, who was a strong, healthy man, ate a portion of one, and was made so ill 

 that he was confined to his bed for two days. Dr. Gerald Boate, writing from 

 Ireland in 1645, tells us leprosy was caused " through the foul gluttony of the 



