837 



In parent rivers, such as the liliine" mikI Loire'', at least 

 some Salmon have lieen ohserveil to pass a wlioie year 

 in fresh water under these cireumstanees. Neither the 

 spawning dress nor any of the otiier external cliaracters 

 of sex — the most remarl<al)i(' of them licinfi: a carti- 

 lagiiions projeetion, turned upwards and recurved, which 

 npi)ears at the point of the lower jaw in tiie males 

 reach- to spawn, and tits into a ea\ity in tiic upper 

 jaw — is developed in sucli specimens, 'liie Salmon 

 whicii oliservers have traced in tiiis condition tor two 

 spawning-seasons are consequently incapable of spawn- 

 ing until two, or perhaps three years have intervened. 

 In Sweden, to the best of our knowledge, no direct 

 observations on tiiis Jiead iiave been recorded; but in 

 the Dai EIF, especially at ]-dfl<arlel)y, siiecimens called 

 Oklor, with bright {blank) dress and undeveloped gene- 

 rative organs, have long been known. These specimens 

 arc bright (irala.r, resembling in coloration tiie Itlai/k- 

 la.r, and in other parts of Xorrland, where they are 

 also found in tiie Gulf of Bothnia, they bear the names 

 of Burthifi and Tajmcn. In Lake Wetter the)- are re- 

 jjresented b}' the so-called SUfrerUtx. From Lake We- 

 ner Widegkex'' records the occurrence of "adult indi- 

 viduals of Salmo salar which in autumn had neither 

 matured roe nor ripe milt". Thus we possess trust- 

 worthy evidence from se\eral ]iarts of Sweden as well, 

 to the effect that tlie Salmons do not invariably spawn 

 every year, even if thev remain in fresli water the 

 whole time. VVidegrex remarks the same circumstance'' 

 in the reproductive operations of the Charrs. 



Quite natural is the consequence tiiat the Salmons 

 require a long time to recover the losses which their 

 frame has suffered in propagating their kind. These 

 losses are so great that maiiv, perhaps most, of the 

 older specimens, especially the males, die of exhaustion. 

 All their fat and the greater portion of their flesh have 

 been consumed, partly as a source of nourishment dur- 

 ing the period when the fish entirely abstains from 



Rrivscil lias shown* how tiie great lateral muscles of 

 tile bodv ami the (h-nnai niusch's undergo a fatt\- de- 

 generation and yield the greater part of their volume 

 to develop tlie ovaries; and a comj)arison (fig. 209) 

 between the conditions of the intestinal canal of a 

 male salmon before and after the spawning, is a strik- 

 ing illustration of the great changes which take place 

 in the body, while the spawning-dress is in course of 

 development. 



Fig. 209. Intestinal canal and testes of a Salmo salar before (a) 

 and after (b) tlie latter liave swollen to maturity. After Bdckland. 

 Both figures red\iced. a from a clean run fish weighing 3.5 lbs. and 

 taken in the Avon on the 14th of March, 1871; b from an unclean 

 (breeding) Salmon weighing 13 lbs. and taken on the 19th of Janu- 

 ary, 1871. ce, oesophagus; !, intestine; p, pyloric appendages; m, 

 testes. In a both the pyloric appendages and the intestine are em- 

 bedded in fat, and the testes thin; in b the testes are distended, and 

 both the pyloric appendages and the intestine are without adipose layers. 



Statements have been made, it is true, which appa- 

 rently show that in the sea, at least under favourable 

 circumstances, Salmon may gain in strengtli and fatness 

 with astonishing rapiidity. From experiments made in 

 1855 at Storraonttield (a Salmon-breeding establishment 

 on the Tay in Scotland) — as well as from still earlier 



food, jiartlv in the ripening of the sexual organs. In ' experiments (1795') in the River Berridale (Caithness) 

 Enghmd these tish are known as KcUs, on the River | — it was concluded that Salmon-fry which left the 

 Nissa in Hahand they are called pej.sor. Mieschei:- | Tay at the end of May, weighing at most 57 grammes, 



" See MiESCHER-RfESCH, Stati.-itische u/ul binloyische Bcitrdge :ur Kentniss com Leben de/! Rheinlachses im Sii.isicnssci; Intern. I-"ischerei- 

 Ausstellung in Berlin 1880: Catal. Schweiz, p. 170. 



* See KOnstler, Becli. s. la reproduction du Saumon de la Dordogne, Congr. Intern, de Zoologie, Paris 1889, Compte-Rendu des 

 Seances, p. 83. 



•■ nfvers. Vet.-Akad. Fiirh. ISIU, p. 294. 



<' ibid., p. 295. 



' ]. c. pp. 186 etc. 



•' Dav, British and Irish ■Sahuonida, p. 93. 



