THE FEEDING OF SALMON 111 



with his important physiological investigations, and 

 found food in only two male kelts. The food was 

 believed to be, in the one case, the remains of a 

 roach, and in the other the scales of a cyprinoid 

 fish. In our country and also on the Atlantic 

 coast of America, hundreds of salmon have been from 

 time to time examined, and always with the same 

 result. It is needless to dwell on this or to give 

 references in detail, for several writers have already 

 done so in recent publications. For details of the 

 examination of the intestinal tract of such salmon, 

 reference may be made to the report by Dr. Noel 

 Paton and others, published by the Fishery Board 

 for Scotland,*" and to the writings of Dr. Kingston 

 Barton. In the investigation of the stomach and 

 intestine of salmon from fresh water, made by one 

 of Dr. Noel Baton's collaborators, a mistake was no 

 doubt made owing to post-mortem changes having 

 affected the tissues examined. From the patho- 

 logical condition, thus unhappily accepted as normal, 

 the inference was drawn that salmon were unable, 

 when in fresh water, to absorb nourishment if any 

 food were taken. Mr. W. Earl Hodgson in his book 

 on " Salmon Fishing " says that the Fishery Board 

 are committed to this desquamative catarrh theory. 

 This is a little hard on the Fishery Board, and, 

 moreover, is not quite accurate, since, after the 

 error had been pointed out by Dr. Kingston Barton, 

 sufficient acknowledgment was surely made in ask- 

 ing the critic to continue the investigation and to 



* Report of Investigations on the Life History of the Salmon. 

 1898. 



