and on the Ova of the Salmon. 105 



responds in every respect with the little fish on which I have 

 made my former experiment, as well as with those to be 

 found in the neighbourhood of the stream from which the 

 ova were taken, and where at this moment they are to be 

 found in great numbers. My observations have been confined 

 to the two or three fish which I dug up the day on which I 

 discovered they were hatched ; the others remaining undisturbed, 

 imder the gravel, until of late, when by removing the shingle 

 from off them, the perfect fish darted forth, and showed much 

 activity. The circumstance of their being dug from the gravel 

 a few days after their birth, does not appear to have affected 

 their health or progress, as those which I now take from the 

 shingle do not appear to be any farther advanced than those 

 which have been subjected to the annoyance of my weekly in- 

 spection ever since the 8th April. It is evident, however, from 

 the extreme difficulty the little fish has in dragging its unshape- 

 ly magazine of sustenance along with it, that nature does not 

 intend that it should be excluded from the gravel immediately 

 on its exclusion from the egg ; but rather that it should repose 

 in its birth-place under the gravel, with this bag, as a source of 

 supply until it be perfected. 



It is well known to those who have paid any attention to the 

 fact, that the salmon begins to spawn in autumn, and, in many 

 rivers, continues to do so as late as the middle of February. It 

 is also generally known, that the salmon-fry in most rivers mi- 

 grate to the sea some time in May. But, be these facts as they 

 may, I can speak with certainty so far as regards the river 

 Nith, to which my experiments are chiefly confined. The sal- 

 mon spawning, so late as the middle of February, and the ova 

 remaining imbedded in the gravel for upwards of one hun- 

 dred and forty days, proves that they cannot all migrate in 

 May the same season the ova were deposited, as it must be the 

 middle of June before these can possibly make their appearance ; 

 yet it must be recollected, that those which were deposited iu 

 the earlier part of winter, are now to be seen in thousands in 

 the situations I have described, measuring, according to their 

 respective ages, from one inch to an inch and a half in length, 

 and certainly with no appearance of migrating. 



The truth is, this little fish remains in the river all the first 



