LENGTH OF SPAWNING -BEDS. 179 



would say) philo-progenitiveness, compels her to 

 be so.* The length of a spawning-bed depends 



* This could never happen if Mr. Shaw's most extraor- 

 dinary statement were true, viz. " That the milt of a single 

 male parr [male, salmon-fry], whose entire weight may 

 not exceed one and a half-ounce^ is capable, when confined 

 in a small stream, of effectually impregnating all the ova 

 of a very large female salmon." Let me make a calculation. 

 The ova in mass of a very large salmon will weigh on a 

 very low average one pound and a half; and the ova sepa- 

 rated, as they are by the act of deposition, will number 

 many thousands. Supposing a male salmon-fry to have 

 milt in proportion to age and size — that a tenth part (I 

 am allowing Mr. Shaw's little fish the widest, indeed im- 

 probable, latitude) of its entire weight be milt, then the 

 weight of that of an ounce and a half fish would be 3 

 dwts. 12 grs. Now, I will ask the question how many ova, 

 each the size of a pea, will 3 dwts. 12 grs. of milt impreg- 

 nate ? Will 72 grs. of milt impregnate several thousand 

 ova, each weighing at the least 5 or 6 grs. ? Let us bear 

 in mind that each ovum is distinct from the others, and that 

 every ovum must, to be impregnated, come in contact with 

 milt. There is a wild German theory, that the emission of 

 milt in water, gives it impregnating power, and that all 

 ova in such water will receive from it the vivifying germ. 

 It would seem as if Mr. Shaw inclined to this theory. On 

 this point Mr. Young writes me, (Jan. 26. 1850.) " There 

 is no such thing in existence as a male salmon-fry impreg- 

 nating the ova of a female salmon of any size. I have 

 seen, perhaps, more salmon on the spawning-beds, and 

 watched their motions, perhaps, more frequently than any 

 man alive, and I must say that I never yet saw the remotest 

 appearance of salmon-fry offering to engage in the opera- 

 tions of spawning." 



N 2 



