248 SAMLET, OR TARR. 



assist his mate; and still less is it shewn that the roe of any- 

 Salmon has ever been rendered fertile by the milt of a Belted 

 Parr. 



It is said that the Samlet or Parr is not found in any other 

 rivers than such as are frequented by the Salmon; but if this 

 were true it would only amount to presumptive proof, and 

 would argue as much in favour of some other species as of 

 the Salmon. But extended inquiry has shewn that the Samlet 

 is not in every case an inhabitant of rivers frequented by this 

 king of fishes, nor does the latter invariably frequent streams 

 where the Samlet abounds. Dr. Knox is confident, ("Lone 

 Glens of Scotland," p. 81,) that "Parr are not found in the 

 Kale, in Roxburghshire, nor in the Tyne, in Haddingtonshire," 

 both of which are frequented by Salmon; and Mr. Young, of 

 Invershin, who is a competent authority on the subject, 

 informs us that there are streams in Scotland where Parrs are 

 found, although neither the Salmon nor Salmon Trout has 

 ever entered them; and such is the case also in the west of 

 England. The Camel is a river of Cornwall which opens on 

 the north coast of that county, and there is an arm of it 

 which is separate from the main stream by a bank which is 

 sufficiently wide to prevent the passage of any fish that might 

 attempt it. Salmon, therefore, are never seen in any portion 

 of this separate channel, but Samlets are found in it in 

 abundance at all seasons of the year. 



In a "Perambulation of Dartmoor," by the Pev. Samuel 

 Pow, Vicar of Crediton, it is said, "Mr. Spence, of Mutley, 

 has for some time been occupied iu investigating the process 

 of the growth of the young Salmon, so as to test the assertion 

 of Mr. Shaw, that the Parr is the young of the Salmon at 

 one period of its growth. For this purpose he has been 

 supplied weekly with fresh fish from the neighbouring rivers, 

 from February to August, 1S4T. On examining his collection 

 I find that he has obtained fishes distinctly retaining the 

 characters of the Parr during the whole of the months of 

 July and August, at Avhich time it is generally understood 

 that the young Salmon of the previous year have lost those 

 marks, and have acquired their silvery coats, and gone down 

 to the sea as Smolts; at the same time the Pinks of the year 

 are increasing in size, being in August about five inches long. 



