106 QUESTIONABLE. 



according to my friend's theory, even if the marital male 

 be at hand, that portion, at all events, will not he benefited 

 by him. 



Then again, he assumes that though the lunge of the 

 female's tail when on the spawning-bed is partly to lift her 

 ova from the bottom of the river, and to distribute them in 

 the stream, it is principally to raise a cloud of dirt, thereby 

 to blind the small fish lying in wait for them below. Is it 

 not just as possible, on the contrary, that the violent motion 

 of the tail may rather be to facilitate the exit of the roe from 

 her own body the throes of parturition, in short? And 

 as to the cloud he speaks of, can it really be dense enough to 

 conceal the eggs ? If the bottom of the Save was muddy, 

 I could conceive this to be possible; but where only sand 

 and gravel exist, as is the case in that river, I should say 

 decidedly not. 



In another place, my friend assumes that the female never 

 spawns on a rocky bed, because she could not there raise 

 up the needful "cloud" to hide her ova whilst they were 

 progressing down the stream. To my mind, the more 

 probable reason for her avoiding rocks is that, in so exposed 

 a situation, her eggs would not find the needful shelter from 

 their enemies. Neither would they be secure from floods, 

 which on ground divested of gravel and small stones would 

 inevitably sweep them bodily away. 



But in spite of my friend's philosophy, what pleases me 

 most of all, is the very ingenious reason he assigns for the 

 male salmon being provided in the spawning season with 

 this elongation of the jaws namely, that he may neither 

 injure his adversary, nor hurt himself in his hostile charges. 

 If such really be the case, Nature, it must be admitted, 



