148 



ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



reaches had been " washed out " to sea, however heavy the 

 spate may have been. They would have had to be forced 

 through three miles of deep sluggish water between Penning- 

 hame and Minnick-foot, besides about eight miles of winding, 

 muddy tidal estuary. No; the migration, if migration it should 

 prove to have been, must have been deliberate voluntary. 



I took immediate steps to secure some of these dis- 

 coloured fish for examination. Unluckily, I was too late, 

 and only succeeded in obtaining one a male, which was sent 

 to Dr. Noel Paton on 25th August. Here are his notes 

 upon it: 



Male length 71.5 cm., girth 34.5 cm., depth 14 cm., total 

 weight 3545 grammes, testes 142 gr., flesh 2064 gr., viscera 257 

 gr. A few parasites in gills; no sea lice; gall-bladder empty; pyloric 

 appendages coated with a little fat ; stomach empty ; intestines 

 contained yellow particles giving reaction of bile pigments ; muscle 

 pale in colour ; red colouring marks on head and tail. 



Analysis 



Testes j ? lids ' > 9- S per cent. 



( rats . 1.9 ,, 

 J Muscle (thick) Solids 32.7 



Fats 9.8 ,, 151.7 



I Muscle (thin) Solids 36.1 ,, . ,, 186.3 



Fats 14.4 74.3 



Calculating the various figures out in terms of a standard fish of 

 100 cm. in length, we have 



Total 28.11 



2.7 

 506.2 



(b) and (c). Higher than upper-water fish previously 



examined in August. 



(d] (e) and (/). Higher than any fish previously examined, 



even in November. 



The enormous weight of the testes made me think that some 

 mistake had been made in weighing it, but on weighing what was 

 left after a part had been taken for analysis I find that it is correct. 

 The points favouring the view that the fish had been up the 

 river are 



ist, the colour of the skin, commencing to turn red. 

 2nd, the parasites in the gills. 



I do not think that too much should be based on this one fish. 



