454 REPORT — 1856. 



become smolts ? Hitherto they have manifested no disposition to migrate, 

 and if the silvery coat of the smolt be not assumed till the spring of 1856, 

 a curious anomaly will present itself. Some of the fry, as smolts, will, for 

 the first time, be descending seawards, of the average weight of 2 oz. ; some 

 as grilse will be taking their second departure to the sea; and others still 

 more advanced will even have completed their second migration, and return 

 to the river as salmon 10 or 12 lbs. in weight. It is much to be desired, that 

 the experiment at Stormontfield could be continued for a year or two longer, 

 till the links in the chain of evidence now wanting to complete the natural 

 history of the salmon should be obtained. All praise is due to Lord Mans- 

 field for the liberal manner in which he has aided the carrying out the ope- 

 rations to this time, and from which he can reap little advantage, beyond 

 the satisfaction to an enlightened mind, of promoting the interests of science 

 and the welfare of the community. 



" Since arriving in Glasgow I have received a communication from my 

 friend Mr. Buist, in which he says, — ' In my opinion, you have kept your 

 statements within the truth, as I have got satisfactory evidence of twenty- 

 two marked grilse being taken, besides others which have been reported ; and 

 I have no doubt many have been thrown in the heap without being noticed 

 by the careless fishermen. There is at present a mystery as regards the 

 progress of the young salmon ; there can be no doubt, that all in our ponds 

 are really and truly the offspring of salmon ; no other fish, not even the seed of 

 them, could by any possibility get into the ponds ; now we see that about 

 one-half have gone off" as smolts in their season as grilses. The other half 

 remain as parrs, and the milt in the males is as much developed in proportion 

 to the size of the fish as their brethren of the same age 7 to 10 lbs. weight, 

 whilst these same parrs in the pond do not exceed 1 oz. in weight. This is 

 an anomaly in nature, which I fear cannot be cleared up at present. I hope, 

 however, by proper attention, some light may be thrown upon it from our 

 experiments next spring. The female parrs in the pond have their ova so 

 undeveloped, that the granulations can scarcely be discovered by a lens of 

 some power. It is strange, that both Young and Shaw's theories are likely 

 to prove correct, though seemingly so contradictory, and the much-disputed 

 point settled, that parrs (such as ours at least) are truly the young of the 

 salmon.' " 



We may now consider ourselves at the close of the Glasgow meeting. 

 The Committee which is now reporting to you prepared to act, and one-half 

 of the fish hatched in the spring of 1854 are still in the Stormontfield ponds, 

 and under the charge of their faithful guardian, Peter Marshall. These fish 

 are still in the state of parr. Mr. Ashworth had arranged that a book 

 should be kept at the ponds, in which every occurrence worthy of notice 

 should be entered, and we shall allow that book to tell its own story: — "These 

 parr continued, during the winter 1855-56, healthy and in good condition, 

 but did not appear to make much advance in size until the month of April 

 1856. They were then in good condition, but not much larger than those 

 which had been allowed to leave the ponds the previous year." 



As the migratory season approached, the fish were closely watched. 

 Peter Marshall reports, 19th March, "that the parrs in the pond continued 

 very healthy." 19th April: — " Ponds again inspected, and some experiments 

 tried to mark with silver rings. They were then also healthy." 26th 

 April : — " Found that a great change had taken place upon them, and that 

 they were fast getting into their smolt state ; marked a few with the silver 

 rings ; found it to answer very well, and that the fish went off very lively on 



