180 THE PRACTICAL FISHERMAN. 



at the development one form of epidemic had attained in connection with 

 the salmonidae generally, and salmo solar particularly. I shall here 

 advert to it more comprehensively in view of its recent history. 



In the seventeenth report (1877-78) of the Inspectors of Salmon 

 Fisheries, England and Wales, it it stated that : " Early in the month 

 of March of the present year ('78) a most mysterious and fatal disease 

 began to affect the salmon in the river Eden, which, running through 

 Carlisle, pours its waters into the Solway Firth." The first indications of 

 it were communicated by Mr. Pattison, of Carlisle, in a letter, dated 20th 

 March, '78. In it he said that "the disease nearly always shows itself 

 from the tip of the snout back on to the head as far as the eyes, 

 and eats the skin and flesh and frequently destroys one or both eyes ; 

 besides, it affects the fish in various parts of the body, especially in the 

 fins, and immediately around them. The fish while living has quite 

 a piebald appearance, the spots affected are Sin. or 4in. in diameter. 

 Most anglers of the Eden have noticed this season (1877-78) many of the 

 salmon have thrown themselves out in a totally different manner to any 

 that has hitherto been seen ; for instance, a fish will give a plunge on 

 the top of the water, going right across from one side of the river to the 

 other in a series of plunges." The disease also appeared simultaneously 

 in the Nith, the Lune, and the Annan. 



Mr. Groom Napier reported that, " having carefully examined it (a 

 piece of salmon's fin infected with fungi) microscopically, I am able to 

 say that it is the Saprolegnia ferax ;" and he also stated that he found 

 in the stomach some granules that represent a stage of development 

 of the sa/prolegnia. 



The remarks of Professor Stirling, which are reproduced in the report, 

 whilst not referring to the technical natural history of this peculiar and 

 interesting parasite, are nevertheless of considerable importance. He 

 says : "I think I have made out the family the fungus belongs to, and 

 its mode of growth by spores and also vegetatively. I also wish to say 

 that the fungus appears to me to be of a very irritating nature, causing 

 the fish such torture that they destroy themselves in their efforts to 

 get rid of their tormentor. The sores upon the fish are not caused 

 by the fungus, but by the fish themselves, by rubbing the parts of their 

 bodies affected upon stones or rocks, and any projections they find to 

 suit the parts affected. The roots of the fungus are very superficial, not 

 deeper than the mucous and epidermic layers on the smooth and scale- 

 less parts, and in the parts covered with scales penetrating to and 

 spreading laterally along their outer surface. The salmon sent to me 

 were maiden salmon, and in good condition, the pyloric cseca being quite 

 embedded in fat, and the whole viscera healthy, the muscles having the 



