372 SCIENCE PROGRESS. 



most important contribution to the subject which has ap- 

 peared since the publication of Miescher-Ruesch's writings. 

 Some of the outcomes of Miescher's work have already 

 appeared in this Journal l in papers by Dr. Brodie and 

 Mr. Escombe, though neither of these papers was written 

 with special reference to the salmon. 



Miescher's observations were made on Rhine salmon, 

 and the principal conclusions he drew were that the fish 

 does not feed during its sojourn in fresh water, that the 

 fat and proteid stored in the muscles is transferred to the 

 growing ovaries and testes, but that the material stored 

 in the muscular tissue is more than sufficient for that 

 purpose. 



It was to fill up numerous gaps in these observations 

 that Dr. Paton undertook the large task he has so success- 

 fully completed, and every page of his full report is worth 

 the careful study of physiologists. All I am able to attempt 

 here is a brief summary of his principal conclusions. 



Before doing this, however, let me enumerate some of 

 the subjects of biological and economic interest which were 

 not investigated. This I may best do by another quotation 

 from the concluding sentences of the report : "As regards 

 the course of migration, our investigations cover only a few 

 months of the year, and interesting results are to be ex- 

 pected by extending the investigations into other seasons. 

 Whether the rate of migration can be satisfactorily ascer- 

 tained in our short Scottish rivers is very doubtful. In the 

 great Canadian rivers, such as the Fraser, very valuable 

 results might be expected from a study of this question. 

 Indeed it would be a matter of the greatest importance to 

 have the observations recorded in these papers checked and 

 extended on a large scale in such a river, with its unbounded 

 supply of fish and hundreds of miles of waterway. . . . 



" The downward migration of kelts (the young fish) 

 requires further study. Of the twenty-two kelts received 

 in April, 1897, all were females. Is this a mere accident, 



1 Science Progress, April, 1898, "The Phosphorus Containing 

 Substances of the Cell," by T. G. Brodie; " Germination of Seeds," by 

 F. Escombe. 



