lo THE SPORTING FISH 



the January and February following, a few fish 

 continue to run which have been usually considered 

 as " barren " — without capability of spawning ; but 

 this notion was proved b)' the late Mr. Ffennell ^ to 

 be erroneous, as upon dissection he found that the 

 females had ova in them perfectly developed, 

 although not larger than mustard-seed, whilst in 

 the males a thin thread of milt was always dis- 

 cernible. These fish, of which many ascend the 

 Tay in November and the three following months, 

 remain nearly a year in the fresh waters before 

 spawning, and although their colours gradually be- 

 come darker in consequence, they are to all intents 

 and purposes "clean fish " — a term used to express 

 the antithesis to " foul fish " — and are exceedingly 

 good eatincr. 



The appearance of these so-called barren Sal- 

 mon at a time when most fish are spawning, or are 

 just recovering from the process, illustrates what I 

 believe to be the most important fact connected 

 with the history of the Salmon, and one which — 

 until the publication of " Proved Facts," and my 

 subsequent notes in the "Angler-Naturalist" in 

 1863 — does not appear to have been at all under- 

 stood, although following as a natural corollary to 

 the propositions of Mr. Ffennell, and hinted at by 

 Mr. Brown in his account of the Stormontfield 

 experiments', — viz., that the principle of a divided 



' See Appendix to Report of Commission of House of 

 Lords on the Salmon Fisheries. 



