44 SALMON. 



and with a few adult Salmon, more fry may be sent to 

 sea annually than the whole produce of the river at 

 present amounts to, after having encountered the sweep- 

 ing perils I have mentioned. 



Proprietors should call meetings for this purpose ; 

 and Parrs, hitherto so called, should be protected by 

 law. Let all who have an interest in the river consider 

 the wisdom of mutual accommodation. The proprietors 

 of the lower part of the river are dependent on the 

 upper ones for the protection of the spawning fish and 

 the fry ; and they on their part depend upon the lower 

 ones for the strict adherence to the weekly close time. 



I think this method of artificial impregnation would 

 prove somewhat more successful than the method said 

 to be adopted by the Chinese, which, for the better 

 enlightening of barbaric nations, I will transmit to pos- 

 terity, from the authority of u The English Chronicle " 

 of the 25th July, 1839 : — 



" The Chinese have taken a fancy to hatch fish under 

 fowls. For this purpose they collect from rivers and 

 ponds the gelatinous matter which contains the eggs of 

 fish, put it into vessels, and sell it to the proprietors 

 of ponds. When the hatching season arrives, a fowl's 

 egg is emptied of its usual contents, and this gela- 

 tinous matter is put in. The entrance is hermetically 

 sealed, and the egg is then put under a hen. After 

 some days it is opened, and placed in a vessel of water 

 heated by the sun; it is kept in the rays until the 

 little fish become strong enough to bear the external 

 temperature." 



Not to derogate from the ingenuity of the celestial 



