66 LIFE AND HISTOEY OF A SALMON. 



day, when the eyes are more distinctly seen, and the 

 head also is apparent; the red of the yolk is drawn 

 more closely towards the belly of the fish, where it is 

 formed into a conical bag, one end of which is attached 

 to the fish. This singular appendage is better seen on 

 the 100th day, when the motion of the embryo, and of 

 the attached bag, may be leisurely examined, by taking 

 an ovum, with a little water, into the hollow of the 

 hand. The heat of the hand, raising the temperature 

 of the water, causes immediate activity in the fish ; and 

 the whole of its structure and rapidly advancing 

 changes may be daily watched. The restlessness of 

 the little prisoners increases day by day until the 

 135th day, when the whole spawning-bed is in lively 

 commotion, and, very many of the fish having so far 

 made their escape as to liberate their tails, the bed 

 resembles a thick braird of grain. The coiled-up fish 

 breaks his cell by his efforts to straighten himself, the 

 rupture being always effected opposite the back fin.. 

 The conical bag and the head remain in the shell a 

 little longer; but the efforts of the fish, aided by the 

 stream, soon effect a perfect liberation, and the newly- 

 born fish are before us, of the average length of three 

 quarters of an inch. 



Instead of being a handsome little creature, such as 

 we might fancy an infant salmon, it has an ungainly 

 tadpole-like appearance, and, though rapid, is unsteady 

 in its movements, owing to the disproportionate size of 

 its head, and of the large heart-shaped bag still attached 

 to its belly. Finding itself unable to swim while ham- 

 pered with this appendage, fully a quarter of an inch 

 long, and as bulky as all the rest of its body, the little 

 creature, when disturbed, instantly darts under a stone, 

 as a protection at once from the violence of the stream 

 and the voracity of its enemies. We should de- 

 scribe this movement as a rapid wriggle rather than 

 true swimming. It answers its purpose perfectly, how- 

 ever, for it is out of sight in a moment. This protu- 



