SALMON. 



591 



part from that adaptation to circumstances, and modi- 

 fications by them, of which we have given an account. 

 There are some perplexities among those which are 

 found in Britain, and these are greatly increased 

 when we come to the continental ones. We must, 

 therefore, confine ourselves to rather a limited enu- 

 meration, and to notices as short as possible pre- 

 mising that, in our language, the whole are called 

 either salmon or trout, though the local names, even 

 for the same species, are often many, and the local 

 differences not few. 



SALMON (Salmo salar). This is the fish, par 

 excellence, of the whole family, and one which is 

 exceedingly abundant. When in the very young 

 state, it is the " smoult," or " smout," the meaning of 

 which is "little one ;" when it acquires more size, it 

 is a " grilse," or " gilse ; " and when it comes to the 

 full colour and flavour of its flesh, it is a salmon. 

 The characters of which it partakes, in common 

 with the rest of the genus, are : the body scaly ; the 

 head smooth ; the back, with two dorsal fins, the first 

 of which has jointed rays, and the second is a fleshy 

 lobe ; the ventral fins nearly under the first dorsal ; 

 the teeth as above stated ; and the rays in the gill- 

 flap from ten to twelve, but not constant in the same 

 species, or both equal on the two sides of the same 

 individual. 



The form of the salmon is elegant, finely adapted 

 for getting through the water ; and, when it first 

 comes from the sea, there is a peculiar metallic 

 lustre on the covering of its body. This is common 

 to it and the others which migrate, and would at 

 once distinguish them from the species which reside 

 constantly in the fresh water, even if there were no 

 other differences between them. At this time the 

 head and back are bluish black, passing gradually 

 through lighter shades to silvery white on the belly. 

 The dorsal, pectoral, and caudal fins, are dusky 

 black, with the exception of the second, or fleshy 

 dorsal, which is of the same colour as the part of the 

 back to which it is attached. The ventral fins are 

 white on the outer side and blackish on the inner, 

 and the anal fin is wholly white. When they first 

 quit the sea they have dusky spots on the sides above 

 the lateral line, more numerous on the females than 

 the males, but these wear off in the fresh water ; 

 and in time the lustre also decays so much, that, in 

 their exhausted condition after spawning, they are 

 called black fish. The teeth are short, but stout and 

 pointed backwards, and there are seldom more than 

 two, and often only one, on the vomer. The poste- 

 rior outline of the gill-lid is more rounded than in 

 the other species, and the lower line of it curves 

 more upward at the rear. The dorsal fin has thirteen 

 rays, the pectoral twelve, the ventral and anal nine 

 each, and the caudal nineteen. In the fry the tail is 

 rather deeply forked ; in the grilse the termination 

 is concave ; and in the full -grown fish it is nearly 

 square over. The body is long, with nearly the 

 same curve in the upper and under parts, and the 

 lateral line straight and widening between them. 

 The head occupies a fifth part of their whole length, 

 and the beginning of the dorsal fin is exactly mid- 

 way between the nose and the tail, with the ventral 

 fins under the middle part of it. 



The whole economy of the salmon is highly inte- 

 resting, and it has the advantage of being better 

 known than that of almost any other fish. In notic- 

 ing it, however, there must not be any very precise 



reference to time, because that varies not only with 

 the situation of the river and the season, but with 

 different fish the same year in the same river. 



They appear first in the offings and lower parts of 

 the estuaries, the females before the males, and the 

 grilse before the full-grown fish. The young ones, 

 and a few of the old, are found in the lower parts of 

 the rivers before all those of the former year have 

 descended. At this very early time, although a few 

 fine fish are sometimes obtained, the fishing is not 

 judicious, because the descending fish are apt to be 

 taken along with the others ; and this is injurious to 

 the fishery, and also the cause of unwholesome ones 

 being sent to market. As they are then scarce, and 

 only obtained in particular parts of the rivers, they 

 bring a high price ; and as it is fashionable to have 

 them, and all buyers are not judges, many bad ones 

 are disposed of; and though they are not absolutely 

 poisonous, people often pay a high price for suffering 

 the luxury of a salmon in bad condition. They con- 

 tinue to come during the summer months, and those 

 which make their appearance in the estuaries during 

 the summer months are always both the largest and 

 the best. If the river is not interrupted, they ascend 

 to a great distance from the sea pretty early, though 

 they are always the worse the further that they "run" 

 as it is called. If they do meet with interruptions in 

 a river, the water of which is favourable for them, 

 they make unwearied efforts to overcome these ob- 

 stacles. When the drought is great, and the river 

 very low, there is comparatively little stir among 

 them ; but when the rivers are swollen by rains, 

 which is often the case in the mountain districts even 

 in summer, they are more on the qui vive, springing 

 at the breastworks of the cascades in one place, and 

 taking higher leaps than hunters, and darting up the 

 temporary rapids in others. Their spring is of course 

 taken from a lateral bend of the body, the caudal fin 

 laid flat being the starting point. Their passage up 

 the temporary -rapids is not so easily observed, as 

 these are generally so foul and foaming that a salmon 

 can hardly be seen, unless when it springs out of the 

 water. There are, however, some very peculiar 

 places of the rivers, generally about the places at 

 which these issue from the mountains, where vast 

 numbers of them accumulate, waiting the rising of 

 the waters. In some of them the current has won 

 for itself so peculiar a channel that the salmon can- 

 not leap at the fall when the water is low. The 

 pools at such places are often very deep, and partly 

 under the projecting rocks. Basket-nets at the end 

 of long poles are used for catching them at such 

 places, and many are caught ; but the fishermen 

 sometimes fall in and get rather an unpleasant bath. 

 When there is an insurmountable fall, not very far 

 from the sea or a river of any size, with a large pool, 

 they collect in great numbers, and continue their 

 fruitless leaping for a long time, till at last they com- 

 mence spawning. Rivers of this kind have salmon 

 very abundant below the fall, large in size, and of 

 excellent quality. Except the leaping at the breast- 

 work, which is probably not very often tried by the 

 same individuals, their summer labours are shorter 

 and less violent than where they can range further 

 up the river ; and thus they can spend a longer time 

 in the sea, the situation in which chiefly they gain 

 both size and flesh. Where they accumulate in such 

 numbers, they have many enemies. Otters and pro- 

 bably foxes, and even wild cats, attack them ; and 



