GROWTH OF SALMON. * 179 



the young fry of the salmon of the last autumn's 

 produce. 



Tlieoph. — What I say is, that the very paucity 

 of these, found in the autumn, compared with 

 the immense shoals of small fish of the same size 

 seen to go down to the sea in the spring, proves 

 them not to be the younger fry of the salmon ; 

 and, moreover, we have repeatedly taken in 

 autumn these which we call par, with the milt 

 ready for exudation, and with roe, in the females, 

 in a less forward state. There is this fact also, 

 which is observed by anglers, that in the autumn, 

 though we take a fish we call in Wales " Morts," 

 (somewhat resembling the salmon, but with a 

 forked tail ; — weighing from three quarters to a 

 pound and a half, and about thirteen inches in 

 length, and which I take to be a distinct fish from 

 the salmo salar) ; we scarcely ever take a fish 

 between that weight and four or five pounds. The 

 average of salmon taken at this time, and in this 

 river, where they run as large as thirty pounds, 

 may be rather placed at ten or twelve pounds 

 than under. But if the growth were so slow as 

 Mr. Shaw indicates, the probabilities are, that 

 the rivers would abound with, and we should 

 take, a greater number of the smaller dimensions ; 

 especially considering that the smaller river- fish 

 of other species are much more readily tempted by 

 our various baits than the larger ones. Then 



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