40 NATUKAL HISTOEY OF THE SALMON. 



not one of the former hatched, while all the others 

 succeeded. What was singular in this experi- 

 ment was, the barren ova only became a little 

 paler, but never turned white or opaque like ova 

 that had been impregnated and died afterwards. 

 We examined many of these ova in the months of 

 April and May (when all the boxes, except the 

 two reserved for the experiment, were swarming 

 with fry), and there was not a chick visible in 

 any of them; therefore we have not the least 

 doubt that the ova of the salmon at least are not 

 impregnated until they leave the fish. The num- 

 ber of ova in a female salmon is roughly reckoned 

 by the weight of the fish, as it has been ascertained 

 by counting the ova, that for every pound weight 

 she will shed about 1000 ova. A salmon of 10 

 Ibs. will therefore contain about 10,000 ova. The 

 keeper informs us that the best period for trans- 

 porting salmon ova to any distance is immediately 

 after impregnation, or within a week or two of 

 the time of hatching. 



HATCHING OF THE OVA, 1854. 



On the 31st of March, 1854, the first ovum 

 was observed to have hatched, which was 128 

 days from the deposition of the first and 98 days 



