SPECIES OF THE SALMON. 59 



6. The peal and the truff being oviparous, if 

 distinct species, as they are more numerous than 

 the salmon, must produce a greater quantity 

 of spawn, and being so much smaller than the 

 salmon, cannot be destroyed by the spear. Yet 

 no man living can prove that he ever saw such 

 spawn either in a solitary or gregarious state ; if 

 they spawn at all it is in the river, and their young 

 would then appear in shoals. 



7. All river-fish coming within the salmo class, 

 which are of an avowedly distinct species, to- 

 wards winter get out of season ; the females 

 having roe r ovaria, and the males having milt or 

 soft roe, lacteSy and thus they get milky ; when one 

 is taken in the hand, even so late as January 

 and February, a whitish liquor immediately flows 

 from the male. Though a roe is often, but not al- 

 ways, seen in the peal and the truff, yet the male 

 is never seen milky when the two fish are in a 

 seasonable condition, if at any time — I never saw it 

 at any time; — this shows the improbability of their 

 spawning for want of the milter. 



8. There are much greater differences in shape 

 and form among salmon themselves, than appear 

 between the peal, the truff, and the salmon. How 

 frequently is it remarked, that such a fish is much 

 finer grown and handsomer than another; some 

 are short and thick, others long and lanky. Horses 

 and other animals vary much in external appear- 

 ances, but no one ever said that a white horse was 



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