102 SA^LMONID^ OF BRITAIN. 



In December, 1880, Sir James Maitland obtained some salmon in the Teith, 

 from wbich be personally took eggs and milt, and in Marcb, 1881, tbe ova were 

 batcbed. In due course tbe young were transferred to pond No. 7 at Howietoun. 

 Tbis pond is lined witb wood, and its extent 100 ft. long by 15 ft. broad, 8 ft. 

 deep in tbe centi-e, and 6| ft. on eitber side, wbilc tbe average siipply of water 

 passing tbi'ougb it is 1,000,000 gallons a day. 



In July, 1883, in tbe pi-escnce of several of tbe foreign commissioners to tbe 

 " Great International Fisberies Exbibition," and otber invited guests, tbis pond was 

 netted, wben it was seen tbat some of tbe youngsalmon, tben two years and four 

 montbs old, were of a general golden colour, spotted, and in tbe livery of tbe 

 banded par stage, wbilo otbers were beautiful silvery smolts, similar to sucb as 

 we generally find descending to tbe sea, and wbicb, in certain ligbts, sliowcd par 

 bands. Altbougb, as a genei-al rule, tbe smolts were tbe larger, still a few of the 

 pars exceeded tbe smolts in size. 



October 10, 1883, one of these f3.sb, wbicb was under 1 lb. in weight, in tbe 

 smolt livery,* but still showing par bands, jumped out f of tbe pond, and was 

 found dead on the path. On being opened it proved to be a female, witb com- 

 paratively large ova, which were of a deep reddish colour, thus almost disposing 

 of the statement that "no par has ever been found witb a mature ova." I say 

 almost, because as yet the ova wei-e not quite mature, altliough they would have 

 become so had not the fish met witb an untimely fate. Also tbe objection might 

 be raised that it was a smolt, not a par, and although the par bands were present, 

 certainly tbe golden tinge seen in the young of the salmon was absent. 



At the end of November, 1883, several of these fish during tbe night and 

 earl}' morning were found to have jumped out of tbe j)ond, and it was surmised 

 that more might have been carried off by rats or birds. On November 29tli two 

 more, one being lls^ in. in length, were found dead ; tbis latter was a silvery smolt, 

 with par b.ands, and on being opened proved to be full of ripe milt. A net having 

 been emplo^-cd, three fish were removed for examination. The first was a silvery 

 smolt, 10'8 in. in length, which in certain ligbts distinctly showed the par bands ; 

 tbe generative organs were uot developed. The second, 9 in. long, was more 

 distinctly jiar-marked, but otherwise very similar. The third was 6 3 in. in 

 length, in the par dress, and was a male full of milt.t As a rule the females 

 were silveiy, although the ova was not ripe, but the males, on the contrary, when 

 pressed, gave ripe milt. Generally the smolts appeared to be more spotted than 

 such as are taken in a state of nature in the rivers ; the largest was 13s in. long. 

 Those in tbe golden par livery seemed to be males, most of wbicb were ripe, 

 while tbe silvery smolts were mostly females. These fish rendered it very evident 

 that tbe relative growth of the fry does not depend on tbe size of tbe ])ond, 

 quantity, quality, or variety of food, or amount of water, as all bad been treated 

 alike, yet they varied in length from 4 in. to 13^ in. 



During the month of IMay, 1884, sixteen of these fishes jumped out of the 

 pond and were found dead, and the breeding organs in all were found to be 

 developing in a satisfactory manner. August 28th, 1884, an examination was 

 made of pond No. 7, and a smolt ly lb. in weight and 14' 1 in. long was removed ; 

 it proved to be a female witb tbe ova well forward, tbe largest being O'l of an 



* The beautiful illustrations of grilse in Sir W. Jarcliue's magnificent SaImonid,c do not 

 resemble in colour the Howietoun fish, which latter are more spotted than his 2 lb. 13 oz. 

 specimen from the Solway Firth, taken in July, and even more so than his 3 J lb. fish captured in 

 August. 



t Brown {Stormontfields ExpcrimeMs) observed that "in the month of February, 183G, caught 

 a dozen and a half par in tlie Tay, and kept them confined in a stream of running water, and by 

 the month of May the whole of them had become smolts ; but some had leaped out of their 

 confinement in their struggle to find their way to the sea, and were found dead on the side of the 

 pond " (pp. 7 and 8). 



J The teeth in the vomer of a par were as follows : — Three on the hind edge of the head of 

 that bone, behind that a pair, then two placed one at an angle to the other, and subsequently 

 eight in a single row, but with their points somewhat divergent. There was very little change 

 seen in those of the smolt, while in one 13 in. long, that spawned in 1884, the same dentition 

 prevailed. 



