48 DAYS AND NIGHTS OF SALMON FISHING. 



eluding communication, by far the most interesting, and 

 which has been lately received by the Royal Society 

 of Edinburgh, contains a continuance and confirmation 

 of the results of the experiments mentioned in the two 

 first papers above alluded to, together with the very ex- 

 traordinary fact, that the milt of a Parr eighteen months 

 old, and only weighing an ounce and a half, is capable 

 of impregnating the ova of a full-grown Salmon. 



Before proceeding to make the experiments related in 

 his last communication, he made three ponds, the banks 

 so raised, and constructed otherwise in such a manner, 

 that it was impossible for the young fish to escape, or 

 for any other fish to have access to them. Accurate 

 drawings and descriptions of these ponds are given in 

 his printed pages, now before me, which he was so 

 obliging as to present me with. " Being thus prepared," 

 says Mr. Shaw (alluding to the construction of his ponds), 

 " with every means of carrying my experiments into 

 practice, I proceeded to the river Nith on the 4th of 

 January, 1837, and readily discovered a pair of adult 

 Salmon engaged in depositing their spawn. They were 

 in a situation easily accessible, the water being of such 

 a depth as to admit of my net being employed with 

 certain success." The fish were accordingly captured 

 by means of a hoop net. The ova were then pressed 

 with the hand from the body of the female, and impreg- 

 nated in the same manner by the milt of the male, and 

 the spawn in this state was transferred to a private 

 pond previously prepared for its reception. That there 

 might be no doubt as to the species, the skins of the 

 parent Salmon were kept, and may be seen at any time. 



