IMPREGNATION OF THE OVARIA. 199 



the same milter will serve several females in succession, 

 according as they are in a state of preparation to receive 

 him. Again, that this state of preparation happens 

 after the completion of the spawning process, when the 

 females are in the condition of what are called kelts. 

 Thirdly, that the sexual intercourse betwixt salmon con- 

 sists of repeated acts of coition, wherein the generative 

 organs of the parties engaged require to be put into 

 reciprocal activity. It is not an impregnation of the 

 shedded or flowing ova that takes place, but an impreg- 

 nation of the ovaria after spawning ; and this, for the 

 purpose of endowing or fructifying the next year's 

 deposit. I may also add, that the fact of the male parr 

 of eight or nine months' growth being, as respects its 

 milt, fully matured, while the female fish of the same 

 age exhibits no corresponding forwardness in regard to 

 the spawn, most unquestionably confirms the reason- 

 ableness of such views ; and if it has not the weight and 

 value of actual experiment, in regard to them, yet, if 

 looked upon as an anomalous and inexplicable circum- 

 stance, when taken into account by the experimentalist 

 himself, as is the case in this instance, it certainly tempts 

 to the inquiry Have such experiments been conducted 

 upon their legitimate bases? or, in other words, is 

 there no error or oversight, no questionable postulate, on 

 the faith of which they have been put into operation ? 



That such there is, I cannot help thinking; and I 

 therefore raise the inquiry, not, be it credited, as a 

 matter of strife, but for the sole purpose of eliciting 

 truth, by drawing attention to certain inconsistencies in 

 Mr. Shaw's theory. At the same time, I most wil- 

 lingly allow full credit to that gentleman for his disco- 

 veries in relation to the parr a matter quite apart from, 

 and unaffected by, the inquiry I have at present started ; 



