206 Natural History and Political Impropriation 



ficial fly through the summer ; it is also occasionally caught 

 by anglers with the worm, on the salmon spawning-beds, in the 

 autumn, with the milt perfectly developed, and in a fluid state. 

 Although this fish is not found in the Ribble (as far as my 

 observation and enquiries have gone), I believe that it is 

 found in the Tweed (and perhaps also in other rivers running 

 into the German Ocean) ; for a letter, addressed to Mr. Ken- 

 nedy, who was chairman of the Select Committee appointed to 

 investigate this subject, by a Mr. George Houy, states that 

 the smelts are sometimes found there 10 in. long, which he 

 attributes to their not being able to get down at the proper 

 period, for want of a flood in the river ; but I know that in 

 the Ribble smelts will go down to the sea without there being 

 a flood at all, if that flood does not come within ten days or a 

 fortnight of the time at which they usually descend to the sea. 

 I also know that bramblings are found in the Wharfe in 

 years when there has been no deficiency in that respect ; yet 

 why they should be common in that river, when they are 

 never met with in the Ribble, which has ten times as many 

 salmon and smelts in it, I am unable to comprehend. 



It is my opinion that the eggs of the salmon are not hatched 

 before March or April, Two anglers, who were, in April, 

 wading in the river Wharfe, came upon a spawning-bed, 

 which they had the curiosity to examine: they found a num- 

 ber of eggs, in which they could see the young fry already 

 alive, and one of them took these eggs home with him. By 

 regularly and frequently supplying them with fresh water, he 

 succeeded in hatching them, and kept some of the young 

 fishes alive for some time; but they died in consequence of 

 neglect, and were, even then, very diminutive. 



The opinion generally received in Scotland seems to be, 

 if I may judge from the evidence given before the House of 

 Commons, that smelts go down to the sea in the spring after 

 they are spawned, and that they return, in the summer and 

 autumn of the same year, as grilse. When they return, and 

 what size they are of on their first visit, I have hitherto been 

 unable to ascertain ; but I think I have succeeded in proving 

 that they do not go to the sea so soon as is generally believed, 

 nor do any of the witnesses give their reasons for thinking 

 that they do. I should very much like to learn what evidence 

 they have to offer in behalf of this opinion, I remember see- 

 ing an article in the Scotsman (perhaps about 12 months ago), 

 in which it was stated that Dr. Knox had made some im- 

 portant discoveries in the natural history of the salmon and 

 herring, both in their food and propagation ; and, if I recollect 

 aright, it stated that he had ascertained that the eggs remained 



