OF GREAT BRITAIN. 15 



suitable for the purpose, which is generally occu- 

 pied also by other spawners, both Salmon and 

 Trout, as well as by a considerable number of 

 male Parrs. These latter, as stated in " Proved 

 Facts," No. 3, are perfectly qualified to con- 

 tinue their species, and they perform a most 

 important part in the reproductive process ; for 

 the attentions of the male Salmon being con- 

 stantly distracted by the necessity of protecting 

 the spawning-bed from the intrusion of other fish, 

 the ova of the female are during these absences 

 vivified by the milt of the Parrs. 1 The female 

 deposits her eggs in shallow furrows in the gravel, 

 to which they adhere by a thin coating of gluti- 

 nous matter, the male at the same time shedding 

 his milt over them. Whether these furrows are 

 made conjointly by both spawners, or by the female 

 fish only, and whether the snout or the tail is the 

 organ used in the delving process, have been dis- 

 puted points amongst naturalists. From the con- 

 current testimony, however, of those who have had 

 the best opportunities of observation, it now ap- 

 pears certain that the trenches are made by the 

 tail of the female fish only, and that the male takes 



1 According to the experiments of Mr. John Shaw (subse- 

 quently confirmed by those at Stormontfield), male Parrs attain 

 to the breeding-state in about eighteen months from the time 

 of hatching. The females, it would appear, never become pro- 

 lific whilst in the Parr state unless they are amongst the excep- 

 tional fish, alluded to in " Proved Eacts," No. 4, which remain 

 over the third year in the rivers before migrating. 



