OF THE SALMON. 27 



lie in this hidden state, before they appear abroad 

 in the river, is not certain, but still not unlikely ; for 

 When we consider with what extraordinary precision 

 they perform all their actions, we must undoubtedly 

 conclude, that migratory fishes are one of the power- 

 ful works of creation. It is not unlikely, that when 

 the parent fish have satisfied the cravings of poverty 

 and hunger among the banks and bays of the ocean, 

 that instinct may lead them back to the rivers where 

 they left their seed. However, the seed lies in these 

 beds until many of the fish have returned to the 

 rivers ; and it is always the case that first spawned 

 first down, and first down first up. 



The ova deposited in September will be hatched 

 in course of from ninety to a hundred days, for at 

 that time the temperature of the water is high, and 

 the length of time that the ova lies among the gravel 

 entirely depends on that temperature ; whereas the 

 ova deposited in December, and after that time, will 

 lie among the gravel 140 days, if the winter be 

 severe ; and, moreover, the late spawned ova has to 

 suffer many disadvantages that the early spawning 

 never meets with. When the fry bursts the shell 

 of the egg, it is an unshapely thing about three- 

 fourths of an inch long, and more like a tadpole 

 than a fish, with a conical bag, the colour of the yolk 

 of the egg, attached to its belly ; this bag is so large, 

 and the fish so small at this time, that the fish 

 must lie on its side beside the bag, and cannot lie on 

 its belly, although when in the act of swimming, 

 which process it goes through with great alacrity 

 the moment it is excluded from the shell, it carries 

 the bag fair under it, but turns on the side whenever 

 it halts. There they are in this helpless-like state 

 scattered over the bottom of the water, and when 

 lying still they can only be discovered by the bright- 



