ANATOMY OF THE DIGESTIVE TRACT IN THE SALMON. 115 



cytes in the connective tissue increased in number, and the 

 capillary blood-vessels congested ; while, on the other hand, the 

 connective tissue is not digested. 



(2) That the stomach and intestines of the trout fixed six hours 

 post-mortem cannot be distinguished from those fixed immediately 

 after death ; and that many of the salmon from the upper waters 

 reached the laboratory within that time from their capture. Dr 

 Barton's remarks on the stomach of the trout on p. 6 are without 

 relevance. 



(3) A salmon captured at sea was not examined until thirty-six 

 hours post-mortem, and except that the " superficial " epithelium 

 was slightly altered, but not desquamated, as a result of post- 

 mortem changes, the stomach was quite normal. 



(4) The kelts, whose stomachs showed much the same appear- 

 ance as that of the salmon from the sea, and whose glandular 

 epithelium was packed with zymogen granules, did not reach the 

 laboratory until nearly as long a time had elapsed, much longer 

 than most of the unspawned fish from the upper waters. 



Supported by these facts I believed myself entitled to con- 

 sider the change one which occurred during life, and Dr Barton 

 himself admits that the stomach of the salmon in fresh water is 

 not in a normal condition by talking of it as " comparatively 

 functiouless," and therefore more easily affected, and by saying 

 that the epithelial cells probably do " not present a normal 

 functional condition." Certainly his figures do not show a normal 

 appearance, for the secreting cells appear to be absent. 



Dr Barton would perhaps have acted more fairly had he more 

 clearly presented these considerations to his readers. 



But Dr Barton does not merely criticise my results, he describes 

 the stomachs and pyloric appendages of two male salmon taken 

 from the upper waters of the Fowey in November as showing 

 "perfectly normal epithelium, and not the slightest evidence of 

 a desquamative catarrh." The Fowey is a short river, and it is 

 impossible to say how long these fish had been out of salt water, 

 and whether they are really comparable with my fish from the 

 upper waters of longer rivers. The observation is, however, 

 certainly of interest, and it indicates that the question is one 

 deserving more extended study. Such a Hmited series of observa- 

 tions cannot be at once accepted as a refutation of my much 



