BtTBLIV NATURiiL niSTOBT 80CI£Tr. 113 



marked the true salmon-fry, and, on their return from the cea, hare taken them 

 as peal ; but no proof can be afforded that all the fish marked underwent the 

 same change. A characteristic mark in the young state of the salmon-fry and 

 the brown trout islhe yellowish-gray colour of the adipose fin of the former, 

 while in the latter it is tingod and tipped with orange. From the specimens ex- 

 hibited, and from some of the foregoing remarks, a question would arise as to 

 the several states of growth and age of the fry and smolts. To Mr. Shaw, of 

 Drumlanrig, undoubtedly belongs the merit of determining the several stages 

 of the fry as traced from the ova ; but still his observations have not been satis- 

 factorily conclusive. The trials and experiments on development, carried on 

 artificially in ponds and in tanks, may, to a certain extent, illustrate extrication 

 from the ova and the changes of the fry state ; but in an animal, peculiarly sen- 

 sitive during those changes of growth, that growth must be more or less re- 

 tarded by the deprivation of its natural acts and resources. Mr. Shaw suc- 

 cessfully proved by experiment the characters of the fry by taking them direct 

 from the spawning-beds of the salmon ; and to him much is due for so perse- 

 veringly pursuing such well-directed inquiries, to the shame of preceding natu- 

 ralists, who ought to have sifted what really were the young state and habits of 

 a fish of such importance in the economy of our industrial resources. His expe- 

 riments, however, only prove what really are the young of the salmon, not that 

 all young states of the Salmonidse, named parr or gravelling, are the young of 

 the salmon. In this treatise — ^* Experimental Observations on the Growth of 

 Salmon-fry" — Mr. Shaw mentions, at page 4, "that after the so-called smolts 

 have descended to the sea, none of the larger parr can be detected in the rivers." 

 The idea that the male parr consorts with the female salmon is too delusive to 

 be supported. What attainable object is advanced by such a departure from all 

 natural laws? That the ova and the milt, in a rudimentary state, may be de- 

 tected in the young stages of the true salmon-fry, I do not deny ; but that the 

 female salmon, which is said to be incapable of the fecundating development of 

 the ova until after the third year of existence, and first return and enlarged 

 growth from the sea, can be impregnated by the male of the fry, which had not 

 visited the sea nor undergone those changes necessary for mature growth, ap- 

 pears contrary to all physiological principles. It is true that parr, gravelling, 

 and small trout may be constantly noticed together on the spawning-beds of the 

 salmon during the periods of spawning, for such shoals of the river are their 

 proper locality. O'Gorman, who wrote •• The Practice of Angling in Ireland," 

 a most experienced salmon-fisher, who now enjoys a fine old age in the town of 

 Ennis, could never be persuaded of the parr state of the salmon, but thought 

 that all the young retreated to the sea the first season of their existence. My 

 own observations and inquiries lead me to consider, that from the period of the 

 extrication of the fry from the ova to the change to its smolt or migratory state 

 is about thirteen or fourteen months. In some rivers the fry are in a more ad- 

 Tanced state in the winter and spring months than in others — that is, they un- 

 dergo earlier extrication from the ova, owing to the temperature of localities, or 

 to early or late breeding fish. Hence, the varied growth throughout the summer 

 and autumn ; and I further consider, that the great bulk of these assume the 

 migratory state in the following spring, descending early in April and May to 

 the sea. That they assume the silvery scales and full migratory dress in* the 

 higher portions of the river, before their movement to the sea, I have fre- 



Suently proved. Referring to my notes, I find that, some years since, when 

 shiug in the county of Clare, about the first week in May, in company with the 

 late James O'Gorman, I met the salmon-fry in abundance, with the silvery 

 scales or migratory coat, in that part of the Cooraclare River between the 

 bridges of Ballydoneen and Goulbourne. Some dozens were taken in a part of 

 the stream that ran rapidly over a rocky and gravelly bed, which high banks 

 overhung— it was close to a spawning bed of the salmon. These fish had per* 

 fectly assumed the silvery scales of the smolt, were tapering iu form, their pec- 

 toral and caudal fins largely developed — the terminal parts tinged with a oark 



