CULTULE OF THE SALMON. 109 



of the salmon, requiring two and sometimes three persons 

 to perform the operation. If the fish is held pendent by 

 the head, the ova, if mature, will distend the lower portion 

 of the abdomen, and some of it flow without pressure ; and 

 this, from all we can learn, is the position in which the sal- 

 mon is generally held when it is being operated on. Mr. 

 Francis, however, gives an illustration of holding one some- 

 what horizontally, with the vent beneath the water of the 

 basin, and raising the head and tail slightly, as is done with 

 the trout in this country in extruding its eggs. In manip- 

 ulation, Messrs. Martin and Gillone, on the river Dee, use a 

 box about three feet and a half long, seven inches in 

 breadth, and of corresponding depth. It is filled with 

 water, and the eggs are pressed out of the fish in the posi- 

 tion in which it swims. 



The young of the salmon, as long as it retains what are 

 known as the finger-marks on its sides, is called a parr. 

 When these marks are no longer visible, and it assumes a 

 silvery coat, it is a smolt, and is sufficiently advanced for its 

 first migration to sea. On its return, which may be after 

 six or eight weeks, or not until the following summer, it is 

 a grilse, its average weight being about four pounds. After 

 its second visit to its marine feeding-grounds, it is a salmon, 

 weighing from eight to fifteen pounds. Immediately after 

 spawning it is called a Jcelt, or a black fisJc, ; the latter 

 appellation is given to a fish that has spawned and remains 

 in the river for any length of time, which generally occurs 

 in the winter months. 

 10 



