Transactions. 33 
few years ago the herrings did not visit a particular part of the 
coast at the accustomed time, and hardly any salmon were to be 
got, although they were usually very plentiful in the herring 
season. In the summer we had a good many young herrings in 
the Solway. I have taken them by dredging and otherwise. It 
was a curious fact that the herring, which used to be so abundant 
as a mature fish in the Solway, should have left it entirely, 
although immense quantities were found in the sea just outside 
the Firth, and the young herrings still visited the Firth itself. 
These were found in large numbers along the shore, where the 
salmon are most plentifully caught. The return of the salmon to 
the rivers was an exceedingly important economic question. 
During the autumn, when they ran up the rivers to spawn, they 
did not feed, or fed very little, subsisting during that season on 
the fat which they had laid on while in the sea. The same thing 
was observed in regard to domesticated fish. As soon as we 
reached October, those fish which spawn at that season had almost 
ceased to feed; but the occupants of other ponds, which 
spawned about January, went on feeding until hard frost set in, 
and the water became very low in temperature. Fish, being 
cold-blooded animals, went into a more or less torpid condition 
during cold weather. Tench buried themselves in the mud at the 
bottom, and lay there. 
Every angler is familiar with the influence which an approaching 
thunderstorm has in preventing fish from rising. Fish often do 
not rise when the barometer is falling, whereas when we had a 
steady rise in the barometer, with the wind from the west, a good 
run of salmon was often noticed in west coast rivers. But when 
the barometer reached 29-50 inches the run ceased. It has also 
been observed that they run better in west coast rivers when ‘the 
barometer is lower on the west coast than on the east coast. 
When it was rising and reached 29 inches, the best run occurred; 
and from 29 to 29°50 seemed to be the most favourable point. 
Temperature is also an important factor in connection with the 
migration of fish, I believe, of all kinds. It must generally 
happen that the temperature of the river differed from that of the 
sea or the estuary. Many writers have remarked that the low 
temperature of the sea induced the salmon to leave it and seek 
the higher temperature of our rivers. This has been particularly 
remarked about our North Sea and east coast rivers, which are 
earlier than those on the west coast. Fish culture has taught us 
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