SALMON. 27 



I have heard it objected that the growth of the Salmon 

 being very rapid, it seems out of the order of nature to 

 suppose that a creature should remain so long in fresh 

 water with so little increase of size. But Salmon never 

 grow in fresh water ; on the contrary, they begin to 

 waste from the moment they enter a river, whether they 

 are clean at that period, or forward in spawning. Besides, 

 as the full latitude of the spawning season endures for 

 six months, some of the fry, acknowledged by all to be 

 Smolts, must be six months older than others, and yet 

 when they congregate to go to sea they will all be found 

 to be nearly of the same size. Now if the fry, confessed 

 by all to be Smolts, or the young of the Salmon, do not 

 increase during so many months, why should it be 

 objected that the Parr is not the young of the Salmon 

 on the same account ? 



These and other arguments have occurred to me from 

 time to time. All reasoning, however, on this subject 

 is now become superfluous ; Mr. John Shaw of Drum- 

 lanrig having demonstrated, by a number of careful and 

 scientific experiments, that the Parr is actually the 

 young of the Salmon. His first paper, announcing this 

 important fact, was published in the " Edinburgh New 

 Philosophical Journal "for July, 1836, vol. xxi. page 99. 

 His second was read before the Royal Society of Edin- 

 burgh on the 1 8th of December, 1837, and was published 

 in the " Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal " for 

 January, 1838, vol. xxiv. page 165. His third and con- 

 cluding communication, by far the most interesting, and 

 Avhich has been lately received by the Royal Society 

 of Edinburgh, contains a continuance and confirmation 



