( 99 ) 



An Jccount of some Experiments and Observations on the Parr, 

 and on the Ova of the Salmon, proving the Parr to he the young 

 of the Salmon. By Mr John Shaw. Communicated by the 

 Author. 



That the facts which I am about to communicate regard- 

 ing the Natural History of the Parr may appear not altoge- 

 ther undeserving of consideration, I may be allowed to observe, 

 that my remarks have not proceeded from a hasty or imperfect 

 observation, but from the experience of many years sedulously 

 devoted to the study of the subject. The whole of my life, 

 with the exception of a few years, has been spent on the banks 

 of the streams where the salmon has been in the habit of de- 

 positing its spawn, and where, of course, the parr likewise 

 abounded ; my facilities of observation have, therefore, been 

 as ample, as my efforts to discover the true history of this fish 

 have been unremitting and laborious. 



In opposition to the opinion held by most writers on the 

 subject, I have always believed that the parr was the produce 

 of the salmon, and that all attempts hitherto made to trace the 

 early history of the latter fish have been unsatisfactory and 

 fanciful. 



To enable me to watch the progressive growth of the parr, 

 I caught, on the 11th July 1833, seven parrs, and put them 

 in a pond supplied with a stream of wholesome water. In this 

 pond they continued to thrive remarkably well, taking flies, 

 and sporting on the surface in fine weather in perfect health. 



In the April following (1834) they began to assume a dif- 

 ferent appearance from what they had when first put into the 

 pond, which was evident enough, even while they continued swim- 

 ming at large in the water ; but wishing to examine them more 

 particularly, and at the same time to convince my friends of 

 the fact of their having changed their appearance, I caught 

 them with the cast-net on the 17th May 1834, and satisfied 

 every individual present that they had assumed the perfect ap- 

 pearance of what is called the salmon-fry. They were now 

 of a beautiful blue on the back, with a delicate silvery ap- 

 pearance on the sides, and at the same time the silvery scales 



