30 ANGLING. 



streams. The law forbids the taking of these small fry, but as far 

 as our experience has gone, we have seldom seen this enactment 

 obeyed to any extent, even by the most scrupulous and high-minded 

 anglers. With the mass of fishermen, the maxim, unhappily, holds 

 good almost everywhere, that " all are fish that come into the net." 

 To justify the infraction of this law, it has been often contended 

 that the par, or smoult, was a minute but Distinct species of the 

 salmonidce, and that its capture was both fair and reasonable. 



This matter was examined into. It was affirmed that these 

 swarms of small Ish were nothing more nor less than the salmon 

 itself in the infant stage of its being. Mr. Shaw, manager of the 

 Duke of Buccleugh's salmon fisheries in Scotland, instituted, a 

 short time back, experiments on the subject upon an extensive 

 scale. > This gentleman asserts, that what is commonly called the 

 parr, is the salmon fry in the first stage of their development. 

 That in this state, as parr, they remain in the river in which they 

 were brought forth for one whole year that in the second year 

 their outer covering of scales is moulted off as it were, and they 

 then assume the character of graveling or smoults, which was for- 

 merly supposed to be the first stage of the salmon's existence ; 

 that when they are two years old, being still in the dress or out- 

 ward covering of a smoult, and averaging from five to seven inches 

 in length, they descend to the ocean, and in the course of a few 

 months or weeks, re-enter the river as grisle, or salmon-peal, and 

 weighing from two to five or six pounds, according to the time 

 they have remained in the salt water. 



These experiments, though apparently very carefully and honestly 

 conducted, did not give general satisfaction. Mr. Andrew Young 

 entered into the controversy, and he maintained that there was no 

 doubt but that the parr were the young salmon, but disputed the 

 - other fact attempted to be established by Mr. Shaw, that they 

 remained two years in the river. Mr. Young says they only re- 

 main one year, and has cited various facts in confirmation of this 

 position. 



Another question has arisen, and is at this moment zealously dis- 

 cussed, connected with the salmon and other kinds of fish, of which 

 it is proper we should here give some brief account. The ques- 

 tion relates to the production of salmon artificially. On the banks 

 of the rivers Tyrie and .Faig, experiments have b:'en recently insti- 

 tuted by Mr. Young, of Inverness-sh : re, of trail ferring the salmon 

 spawn into localities where the fish is not found. These expe- 

 riments have been partially successful. This of stocking rivers 

 was practised two thousand years ago by the Romans, and is 

 largely treated of Columella and other ancient writers. After a 

 lapse of many centuries, it has been revived again, and with great 

 success in IVance. Two fishermen of the Vos^es, named Gehin 

 and Remy, have succeeded in propagating salmon, carp, pike, 

 tench, and perch, and they m ami am that the plan is appli cable to 

 those fish which live partly in fresh water and partly in the sea, 



