146 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [^pril, 



come Smolts and go down to the salt water ; Grilse if they re- 

 turn from the sea during the first year of their migration ; and 

 at all other periods Salmo7i.] 



11. It has also been clearly proved that, in general, Salmon and 

 Grilse find their way back to spawn to the rivers in which they 

 were bred, sometimes to the identical spots, — spawn about Nov- 

 ember or Dacember, — and go down again to the sea as " spent fish," 

 or "Kelts," in February or March, — returning, in at least many 

 cases, during the following four or five months, as " clean fish," 

 and with an increase in weight of from seven to ten lbs. 



[Shortly before spawning, and whilst returning to the sea as 

 Kelts, or spent fish, Salmon are unfit for food, and their cap- 

 ture is then illegal. "Foul fish," 6e/br<! spawning, are, if males, 

 termed Red fish, from the orange-colored stripes with which 

 their cheeks are marked, and the golden-orange tint of the body • 

 the females are darker in color, and are called Black fish. 

 ^fter spawning, the males are called Kippers, and the females 

 Shedders or Baggits.] 



This, in a condensed form, is the present state of our positive 

 knowledge as regards the leading facts in the history of the Sal- 

 mon as it occurs in British waters. 



REVIEW. 



Comparisons of American Languages with those of the 

 Old World.* 



Under the title noted below, ' ' N.O.," a writer in the Lower Canada 

 Journal of Education, attacks some rather bold statements respect- 

 ing the American languages, made by M. Renan in his work on 

 the Primitive Languages. In an ethnological point of view the 

 subject is of interest, and we are glad that any one acquainted 

 with our native languages is disposed to take it up. The Ameri- 

 can languages have usually been regarded as altogether distinct 

 from those of other parts of the world, and as very dissimilar 

 among themselves. Yet the most superficial examination shows 

 that similarities of grammatical forms and of root-words exist 

 over wide areas of the American continent, and among tribes per- 



* " Jugement erron^ de M. Ernest Renan sur les Langaes Sauvages," 

 (par N, 0. Pamphlet reprinted from the Journal d'lnstruction Publique.) 



