and oil the Ova of the Saimofiu 103 



scour, and terminates in tlie head of the pool, where, during the 

 whole summer, but more particularly in the montlis of August 

 and September, they are caught by the angler with a small fly 

 in prodigious numbers. 



Having traced the progress of the little fish of one inch in 

 length, through its several stages of the parr up to the period 

 oi its migration, I may now communicate the result of my ex- 

 periments on the ova, to prove that I have not been mistaken 

 in my opinion that this fish is produced from the ova deposited 

 by the salmon the previous winter. On the 10th January 1836, 

 I observed a female salmon of considerable size (about 16 lb.), 

 and two males, of at least 25 lb., engaged in depositing their 

 spawn. The spot which they had selected for that purpose 

 was a little apart from some other salmon which were engaged 

 in the same process, and rather nearer the side, although still 

 in pretty deep water. The two males kept up an incessant 

 conflict during the whole of the day, for possession of the fe- 

 male, and in the course of their struggles, frequently drove each 

 other almost ashore, and were repeatedly on the surface dis- 

 playing their dorsal fins, and lashing the water with their tails. 

 Being satisfied that these were real salmon, there being at 

 least ten brace of that fish engaged in the same process on the 

 stream at the time, I took the opportunity of securing as 

 much of the ova as I could possibly obtain. This I did three 

 days after it was deposited, the males and female still occasion- 

 ally frequenting the bed. The method by which I obtained tlie 

 eggs was by using a thin canvass bag, stitched on a slight 

 frame formed of small rod iron, in fashion of a large square 

 landing-net, one person holding this bag a few inches farther 

 down the stream than where the ova were deposited, and ano- 

 ther with a spade digging up the gravel, (he current carrying 

 the eggs into the bag, while the gravel was in most part left be- 

 hind. Having thus obtained a sufficient quantity of the ova 

 for my purpose, I placed them in gravel under a stream of water 

 where I could have a convenient opportunity of watching their 

 progress. The stream was pure spring water. On the 26th Feb- 

 ruary, diat is, forty-eight days after being deported, I found 

 on close inspection that they had some appearance of animation, 

 from a very minute streak of blood which appeared to traverse 



