234 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 



dependence ; for more probably the floating ova that escaped the maws of hungry 

 trout would settle in some quiet pool beyond the medium of maturation, and finally 

 perish. In fact, it is more characteristic of the Clupeidae or herring family, which, in 

 the spawning seasons, seek the inlets and shallows of our shores, where the excluded 

 ova, in myriads, float away at the mercy of the tides ; besides, a great distinc- 

 tion exists in the specific gravity of the ova of the salmon, the trout, and the her- 

 ring — those of the former, the greater portion sink at once to the bed or furrow, 

 where they are impregnated by the male, and remain without removal. In the 

 Clupeidse, expulsion of the ova in masses spread far, and float a considerable time, 

 even where no force of tide or wave3 would drive. We know of that family that 

 the shad — both Alosa finta and Alosa communis — ascend in the early part of sum- 

 mer, from the sea to the fresh water to spawn ; but they seek the sluggish parts of 

 a river, or the quiet waters of the lake, where the ova float, to be impregnated, simi- 

 lar in habit to the herring. The shad has been taken in salmon-nets in the lakes 

 at Killarney, and in rivers in Kerry. Some discussion also arose in the Society, 

 concerning the clean spring fish ascending the Caragh river, in the county Kerry, 

 in January, remained in the fresh water throughout the summer, and spawning the 

 following autumn without revisiting the sea in the interval. It is necessary, for 

 the proper development of the ova and milt, that the fish should be in the healthiest 

 state of vigour ; but a sojourn in the fresh water for so many months must 

 greatly deteriorate the condition of the fish, and render them unequal to such im- 

 portant functions. The wild and romantic districts in Kerry, which supply the 

 waters of the Laune and the Caragh, have for years been familiar to me. Its sal- 

 mon-fisheries, therefore, would naturally interest me. Salmon are found ascending 

 the Caragh very early in the autumn for the spawning-beds, being at that time, in 

 August and early in September, with the ova largely developed. These are the 

 early breeding fish, and, subsequently, are the run of early spring salmon. After 

 the operations are completed in the spawning-beds, the fish return to the sea to re- 

 cruit, and are again to be met early in January, in the fresh water, in the primest 

 condition. These fish do not then visit the river or lake for the purpose of spawn- 

 ing, nor remain until that time approaches, for salmon do not at all times enter the 

 rivers for the object of breeding. Seasons and localities alone influence the salmon 

 to proceed to the spawning-beds, according to the condition of the early and late 

 breeding fish. Mr. Shaw's experiment proves that the salmon which he captured 

 for the purpose of obtaining the ova for artificial impregnation, and placed in ponds 

 after he had successfully effected the object, on being liberated from the ponds, at 

 once moved towards the sea. Frequent remarks have been advanced, that to the 

 destructive floods of 1848 and 1849 were to be attributed the scarcity of salmon the 

 following year3. I was on the south-west coast in the season of 1849 and 1850. 

 Our salmon-fisheries in the Feohanagh and the Clehane were complete failures in 

 1850; and there certainly was a scarcity of peal this season. Our western rivers 

 are very late, and salmon do not, in the generality of them, approach until late in 

 the season. After the season had closed, the salmon were plentiful in the estuaries, 

 and this was strikingly the case late in the season of 1850 ; for great quantities of 

 fish were hanging about the mouths of the rivers, unable or uninclined to ascend 

 until very late in the season. The season of that year was uncommonly dry, 

 and the rivers were low the greater part of the autumn ; and it was not until 

 October that the fish entered the rivers. At that time I heard that those that were 

 taken were in prime condition. On inquiries the same season I found that similar 

 causes, to some extent, affected the Lee and the Slaney, and that long after the sea- 

 son had closed, the salmon were to be found going up the rivers, and in prime con- 

 dition. This went far to prove that, in some of those late rivers, the season closes 

 much too early (at least for the rod) ; and, on the other hand, the season should not 

 commence too early. Again, there are exceptions, for in some rivers there is a good 

 run of clean fish the greater part of the year. It is quite clear that salmon do not 

 desert the rivers of their origin, for whatever natural causes may induce or oppose 

 their earlier or later ascent from the sea, they invariably seek the parent stream. 

 Their visits to the sea are confined to those depths off the coast where the river dis- 

 embogues, and where rocky ledges and sandy and shingly channels afford protec- 

 tion, and> abundance of marine animals for the proper nourishment of their rapid 



