BESPECTING THE PARR. 51 



greatly in condition, or, more correctly speaking, re- 

 cover from their state of weakness. 



But to return to Mr. Shaw. — " The circumstance," 

 says he, " of male Parrs with the milt matured, and 

 flowing in profusion from their bodies, being at all 

 times found in company with the adult female Salmon 

 while depositing her spawn in the river, and the female 

 Parrs being in every instance absent, suggested the 

 idea that the males were probably present with the fe- 

 male Salmon at such seasons for sexual purposes. 



"To demonstrate the fact," he continues, "in January, 

 1837, 1 took a female Salmon weighing fourteen pounds 

 from the spawning bed, from whence I also took a male 

 Parr weighing one ounce and a half, with the milt of 

 which 1 impregnated a quantity of her ova, and placed 

 the whole in a private pond ; where, to my great as- 

 tonishment, the process succeeded in ever} 7 respect, as 

 it had done with the ova which had been impregnated 

 by the adult male Salmon, and exhibited, from the 

 ■first, visible appearance of the embryo fish up to their 

 assuming their migratory dress, the utmost health and 

 vigour. 



" The result from this experiment was of so startling 

 a nature, that it was not thought prudent to give it 

 publicity till the trial was repeated. It was so early 

 in the following January, 1838, when two lots of eggs of 

 a Salmon, weighing eighteen pounds, were impregnated 

 with the milt of two male Parrs, and there ensued pre- 

 cisely the same result as before. Again, in December. 

 1838, four lots of ova from an adult Salmon were im- 

 pregnated with the milt of four Parrs with similar 



