ON THE YOUNG OF THE SALMON. 163 



are known to increase in size, must have been samlets in the 

 previous month, and about June must have been spawned ; 

 thus accounting for the samlet, or salmon-fry, so late as No- 

 vember. Indeed, I can say, that T have taken them in almost 

 every month of the year; they are by far in the greatest 

 abundance in April and May, no doubt the produce of the 

 general spawning time of December and January. 



I come now to the opinion, sanctioned as it is by a great 

 chemist and philosopher, though, I believe, no naturalist, the 

 late Sir Humphrey Davy, that the samlets are a breed between 

 a salmon and sea-trout, or the common trout. With due 

 deference to so high an authority, 1 must beg leave to say, 

 that such an opinion is quite untenable ; for it is to be 

 observed that both the sea-trout and salmon-trout are rare- 

 ly to be met with in any of the rivers of North Wales, whereas 

 in most of the salmon rivers in that part of the principality, 

 I can state from experience, that the autumn-samlet will 

 be found in abundance. Then, as to the common trout, in 

 many of the Welsh salmon-rivers, it is rare to meet with one 

 so large as two pounds in weight; the samlet is, therefore, 

 not likely to be the offspring of two fish so different in size 

 as the salmon and trout ; and T may add, that these little fish 

 have not even the analogy of bearing that proportion in size 

 to the originals, which such deviations from nature in the 

 animal creation are invariably known to possess. 



Since committing the above observations to paper, 1 have 

 seen Mr. Yarrell's work on British Fishes, wherein an opinion 

 is expressed by the author, that the samlet, or par, as it is 

 there called, is a distinct species, and in this opinion he is 

 joined by Sir William Jardine and Dr. Hey sham, of Carlisle : 

 the last-named gentleman also stating that the samlets spawn 

 in December and January, going down to the sea in the 

 spring, and returning in the autumn ; but how he comes to 

 this conclusion does not appear. Before these fish are ex- 

 posed to indiscriminate destruction, on the above authority, 

 and not preserved as the young of the salmon ought to be, 

 I must be allowed, on behalf of the salmon species in general, 

 though not a specially retained advocate, to make a few further 

 observations in their behalf: and, differing so widely as I do 

 from three such distinguished and experienced naturalists, it 

 will be necessary for me to go into more minute details in 

 support of my own conclusions, and to which I will beg to 

 claim further attention. 



I have first to remark, that in an examination of nearly 



