28 DAYS AND NIGHTS OF SALMON FISHING 



diminished quantities. I myself have caught full 

 roeners, as they are called, in the month of May in 

 the Tweed. Now we know from the proof of experi- 

 ments that have been made by various persons, 

 that the spawn of the Salmon continues imbedded 

 in the gravel from ninety to one hundred and fifteen 

 days, according to the temperature of the water, 

 before it vivifies ; and indeed remains there some 

 weeks after its exclusion from the egg. Mr. Shaw 

 has stated the exact time of this latter period to be 

 fifteen days ; at the end of which time, says he, the 

 egg which was attached to its abdomen, from which 

 it derived its nourishment, " contracted and dis- 

 appeared ; the fin or tadpole-like fringe also divided 

 itself into the dorsal, adipose, and anal fins, all of 

 which then became perfectly developed ; the little 

 transverse bars, which for a period of two years 

 characterise it as a Parr, also made their appearance ; 

 so that a period of at least 140 days is required to 

 perfect this little fish, which even then measured 

 little more than one inch in length/' 



The above not being matter of conjecture, but 

 having been demonstrated by experiment, how by 

 any possibility can the old doctrine be true, that the 

 fry which go to sea about the first or second week 

 in May, six or seven inches long, can be the spawn 

 of the winter immediately preceding it ? And what 

 and where are the young of the Salmon all the 

 summer, if they are not indeed Parr ; for no silver- 

 coloured fry are at that time to be seen in the river ? 

 I must add also, that it is incumbent upon those 

 naturalists who assert that the Parr is a distinct 



