METABOLISM OF THE SALMON. 373 



or do the male kelts descend at a different time ? The 

 interesting question of the loss of the great maxillary de- 

 velopment in the male is also yet to be elucidated." 



May I be permitted to re-echo this hint to our Canadian 

 cousins ? Those of us who last year had the opportunity of 

 experiencing Canadian hospitality will know the favour with 

 which science is regarded in the Dominion by people and 

 Government alike ; and of the many wonderful sights those 

 who travelled to the West were privileged to witness, that 

 of the salmon in the rivers of British Columbia will probably 

 be the one which will most vividly imprint itself on the 

 memory. We hope that some scientific use may be made 

 of such opportunities. 



Turning, however, to the body of the report, let me 

 now briefly indicate the principal lines of research contained 

 in it. 



The first question : Do salmon feed while in fresh 

 water? was taken up by Drs. Gulland and Gillespie. It 

 seemed probable that a conclusive answer might be arrived 

 at by three different lines of investigation, viz. : — 



(1) The condition of the mucous membrane of the 

 alimentary canal. 



(2) The activity of the digestive secretions. 



(3) The bacteriology of the alimentary tract. 



In connection with the first of these questions, the 

 inactive condition of the glandular epithelium, which was in 

 great measure desquamating, the absence of zymogen 

 granules in the pancreas, the fatty condition of the liver, the 

 emptiness of the gall bladder, and the absence of even a 

 trace of food, all point conclusively to the inactivity of the 

 alimentary canal. This conclusion is supported by what 

 was found in connection with the second question, namely, 

 that the proteolytic and diastatic action of extracts of various 

 parts was extremely low. If, for instance, in the case of the 

 stomach, the peptic activity be expressed in the case of 

 kelts as 30, that of fish from the estuaries was 9/5, and 

 from the upper waters, 9*1. The digestive activity was 

 proportional to the acidity of the glycerine extract, and this 

 in turn was in inverse proportion to the number of micro- 



