104 PHILOSOPHIC SPECULATIONS. 



To say nothing of the injuries salmon inflict on each other 

 with their teeth, were it not for the cartilaginous elongation 

 on the upper jaw, which forms a kind of pad in front of 

 the brain, the concussion on the occasion of the desperate 

 charges spoken of would be so great as to stun the assailant. 

 When the fish makes his onset his jaws are usually closed, 

 and the hook on the lower jaw is embedded in the upper, 

 thus affording the latter support, and still further lessening, 

 as applies to himself, the effects of the concussion. 



" Nature," says my friend, in conclusion, " only works by 

 fixed laws. To have given the male salmon a share of human 

 intellect was not in accordance with her plans. She resorted 

 to simpler means, and instilled envy and jealousy instead of 

 reflection and reasoning power, which at all events would 

 not have given the stimulus to exertion that the minor 

 attribute confers. In order, however, to moderate the 

 effects of these ferocious passions, this proboscis was be- 

 stowed, which thus prevents the male from inflicting mortal 

 injury either on his rival or on himself." 



So much for my philosophic friend, the results of whose 

 experiments and observations are certainly very curious, and 

 every naturalist will feel much indebted to him for paying 

 such close attention to a subject so very interesting. Never- 

 theless, one cannot always coincide with his conclusions 

 because he does not seem fully to make out his case. 



He sets completely at nought the notion, with regard to 

 the salmon, of intercourse between the sexes ; and from the 

 facts he adduces, I feel partly inclined to agree with him. 

 But then he admits that the female occasionally leaves the 

 spawning-ground, and makes little excursions about the 

 river, at which time it seems quite possible she may have 



