94 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SALMON. 



the Stormontfield ponds has produced smoults 

 that were caught marked as grilse the first sea- 

 son, and salmon the second; but his idea may be 

 taken as a corroboration of what we have stated, 

 to this extent, that all the smoults do not return 

 the first summer, but that those that are to return 

 as salmon remain in the sea from fifteen to 

 eighteen months; but that this is a provision of 

 nature, or natural habit of the same species of fish, 

 we affirm to be the true solution of the riddle, 

 without resorting to the desperate expedient 

 of maintaining, as Mr Mackenzie has done, that 

 salmon and grilse are different species!" We 

 quite agree with this writer, as his idea is the only 

 one that will explain why clean salmon, having 

 only a thread of milt or roe in them, are to be 

 found in salmon rivers in the months of Decem- 

 ber, January, and February. These fish are falsely 

 called barren fish, but this is not the case, as many 

 have been dissected by Mr Ffennell, and in his 

 examination before the Lords' Commission (see 

 Appendix) he proves that these fish were not bar- 

 ren, but had ova perfectly developed, although as 

 small as a mustard seed. He says, "These fish do 

 not spawn until November and December follow- 

 ing, remaining ten or twelve months in the fresh 



