( 358 ) 



Queries respecting' the Natural History of the Salmon, Sea- 

 Trout, Bull-Trout, Herling, ^c. By Sir William Jab- 

 dine, Bart. F. R. S. E., M. W. S., &c. 



A HE value of the Salmon Fisheries in Great Britain has de- 

 creased so much of late years, and particularly in the north of 

 England, and south of Scotland, that a remedy for it, indepen- 

 dent of its interest as a difficult and unsolved question in Na- 

 tural History, will become of no little importance to proprietors. 

 The following Queries are proposed, with the view and with 

 the hope of gaining some information upon the natural history 

 and economy of this valuable species. It is only by arriving 

 at a correct knowledge of its various habits, and those of the 

 species allied to it, which frequent our rivers in almost equal 

 numbers, that we can hope to devise or accomplish any means 

 of increasing the production, or of decreasing the certainly too 

 extensive destruction of it in its different states. 



The Queries relate only to its natural history, and answers 

 kte earnestly requested, stating facts relative to the opinions 

 given, with the suggestion of additional queries, or any thing 

 that will tend to illustrate the history of the species. 



Address the Answers to Sir William Jardine, Jardine-Hall^ 

 by Lockerbie, Dumfriesshire. 



Salmon, 



1. At what age do Salmon commence spawning ? and how often is it sup- 

 posed that they have migrated to and from the sea, previous to their first 

 parting with the spawn ? 



2. Do the males and females attain maturity at the same period or age ? 

 arid do all of one age spawn nearly at the same season ? 



3. At what time do the young, or fry, first leave the rivers ? 



4. Wlien do the young, or fry, first return to the rivers ? 



6. What is the size, weight, and appearance of the fry, on their first re. 

 turn from the sea, a' id under what denomination do they then go ? 



6. Are they so far arrived at maturity as to spawn, and be productive, on 

 their first return from the sea, or previous to a second migration ? 



7- Are any Jish known to shed their spawn abortively, before they arrive 

 at their full growth or maturity ? or is the spawn observable in young fish 

 retained until the parents attain the ordinary growth and size of the species 

 when it is known to be productive ? 



