DISAPPEARANCE OF THE TRANSVERSE BARS. 195 



the earlier spawners. I will now come to fish 

 that spawn the latest of all, viz., in the month of 

 March. I should then say the ova of such fish, 

 considering the increasing temperature of the 

 water in March, April, and May, would be fully 

 incubated in ninety days, producing embryo sal- 

 mon in June. Now, in November when these fry 

 are only six months old, the fry of ova spawned 

 in September, will be eleven months old, and the 

 fry of those spawned at the " throng " season will 

 be about eight months of age. I have taken three 

 spawning periods, early, middle, and late, and 

 given the results. Even between those periods 

 fish spawn, so that there must be in every month 

 of the year, either fry of different sizes, or smolts in 

 their migratory coats preparing for their first de- 

 scent to the sea, or actually descending thither. I 

 have great hopes that this explanation will prove 

 satisfactory, and remove all scepticism from the 

 minds of those who have paid only cursory atten- 

 tion to the habits of salmon. 



A salmon fry at ten months measures about four 

 inches, and the transverse bars begin to disappear, 

 silvery smolt scales by degrees taking their place. 



At eleven months its length is four and a half 

 inches, and the bright silvery scales are now seen 

 descending towards the region of the belly. 



o 2 



