OF GREAT BRITAIN. 21 



in the spawning-bed, the egg begins to show faint 

 signs of animation, and the eye of the embryo fish 

 appears, a scarcely perceptible black speck, gra- 

 dually increasing in size until the time of hatching 

 an event which usually occurs in from 90 to 1 40 

 days, according to the temperature of the water 

 and forwardness of the spring. 



The actual bursting of the young Salmon from 

 the egg is most interesting. The operation, which 

 I have frequently watched, takes place thus : 

 The fish lies in the shell coiled round in the form 

 of a hoop, and the greatest strain being at the back, 

 this is, of course, the first part to be freed. At 

 this point the shell splits across, and, after a few 

 struggles, is completely thrown off with a jerk- 

 leaving the umbilical sac or " yolk-bag," containing 

 the red yolk of the egg, by which the fish is 

 nourished during the first five or six weeks of its 

 existence, suspended under the stomach. At this 

 " bag-stage" of its development, the half-formed 

 fry is exceedingly delicate, the displacement of a 

 stone, or the slightest bruise or injury, proving 

 instantly fatal. Its appearance is also very curious. 

 The future monarch of the stream is represented 

 by a mere ragged line, fringed at the edges and 

 almost transparent, the head and eyes being pro- 

 minent and altogether out of proportion to the 

 body, which measures only about five-eighths of 

 an inch in length, and is of a pale peach-blossom 

 or azure tint. 



