Prince. — The Red Flesh of the Salmons 51 



7s Color Due to Vascularity? 



A second view is that the vascularity of the muscles, the 

 rich blood-supply, explains the color. Pale flesh would 

 mean that the blood vessels were fewer or smaller. Cer- 

 tainly in such Scomberoids as the Tuna (Thynnus) the 

 rich provision of blood vessels gives a dark red color to 

 the meat, and accounts too for the high temperature of 

 these fish. 



Does Color Signify Health-energy? 



Again, the red color it is claimed is a sign of the 

 healthy condition of the fish. Just as a pale complexion 

 may be a sign of ill-health in the human subject, whereas 

 rosy cheeks imply a robust state of health, so a trout or 

 salmon, showing pale-tinted or whitish flesh, is thought 

 to be out of condition. Many anglers and epicures reject 

 such as sick fish. White flesh is regarded as having a 

 pathological significance. A slightly different view is 

 that taken by those who do not regard the pale color as 

 due to sickness or ill-health in the fish ; but to poor feed. 

 A well-fed fish in prime condition should, it is claimed 

 by those who adopt this theory, have flesh of a rich red 

 salmon color. Apart from conditions of health, a poorly- 

 fed, starved fish would, according to this view, be lack- 

 ing in color and wanting in flavor. Many people regard 

 the color as intimately related to flavor and a highly-col- 

 ored salmon or trout must, in their opinion, have a supe- 

 rior flavor. 



Is Color Due to Sexual Ripeness? 



Again, the color is associated by many authorities with 

 the ripeness of the fish ; that is to say, their reproductive 

 condition. Up to the commencement of spawning it is 

 asserted, salmon and trout accumulate fat, especially the 

 red, oily matter, which during the breeding season is 

 transferred from the muscles to the ovaries and sper- 

 maries. There is, no doubt, much ground for holding 

 the view that the red lipochrome is stored up in the mus- 

 cular tissues. It occurs, indeed, as minute shining bodies 



