18 SALMONID.E. 



growth of Salmon fry, from the exclusion of the ova to the 

 age of two years ; and that I may do justice to so interesting 

 a subject, I include a large portion of Mr. Shaw's paper as it 

 appeared in the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edin- 

 burgh. 



" That the facts which I communicate regarding the natu- 

 ral history of the Salmon in its earlier stages, may not appear 

 altogether undeserving of consideration, I may premise that 

 my remarks have not proceeded from hasty or imperfect ob- 

 servation, but from the experience of many years sedulously 

 devoted to the subject, the whole of my life, with the excep- 

 tion of a few seasons, having been spent on the banks of 

 streams where Salmon are in the habit of depositing their 

 spawn, and where of course the Parr is likewise abundant. 

 My opportunities of observation have thus been as ample, as 

 my efforts have been unremitting and laborious, to discover 

 the true history of this invaluable species. I shall here pre- 

 sent a brief abstract of my earlier proceedings in relation to 

 the subject. 



" I had long been of opinion, in opposition to the senti- 

 ments entertained by the majority of authors, that the fish 

 commonly called Parr, was the natural produce of the Sal- 

 mon, and that all recorded attempts to trace the history of 

 the latter fish were fanciful in their nature, and delusive in 

 their results. To enable me to watch the progressive growth 

 of Parr, I caught seven of these small fishes on the llth of 

 July 1833, and placed them in a pond supplied by a stream of 

 wholesome water. There they continued to thrive remark- 

 ably well, and were seen catching flies and other insects, and 

 sporting on the surface in perfect health. In the month of 

 April following (1834), they began to assume a different 

 aspect from that which they exhibited when first put into the 

 pond, and this change was evident enough even while they 

 continued swimming at large in the water ; but wishing to 



