90 FISH AND FISHING IN SCOTLAND. 



that this remark has a reference to the parr. The sex of 

 the smolt is not mentioned. The length of the parr was 7-f 

 inches ; girth, 4| ; breadth, If. It was caught in the Tweed 

 on the 1st June. The stomach was gorged with the food of the 

 common trout. 



Mr. Hutchinson, of Carlisle, long ago counted and com- 

 pared the spines or rays of the fins of the parr with the smolt ; 

 and he states them to be as follows : 



In the Smolt. In the Parr. 



Pectoral 12 13 



Ventral 8 9 



Anal L 10 8 



Dorsal 12 



Parr will occasionally disappear for years from a river. In 

 July, 1832, of twenty -two dozen of trout taken in one day from 

 the Whitwater, there was not a parr. They had some years 

 before abounded. 



The term parr, then, is a generic term, applicable to several 

 kinds of fish. The young of the sea trout, for example, like 

 that of the salmon when it first leaves the gravel, and until it 

 undergoes its metamorphosis as to colouration of the surface, 

 resembles, 110 doubt, like the smolt or young salmon, the fish 

 called parr. Its growth I know to be rapid. In a few weeks it 

 loses its parr markings, and other embryonic characters, and 

 makes for the sea. 



This sufficiently curious fact, namely, that the young of the 

 sea trout, in the smolt state, preparing to descend to the sea, 

 resemble strictly the smolt of the true salmon, shows the 

 caution required in making observations on the imperfectly 

 developed animal, their peculiar colouration of numerous dark 

 spots and specific dentition not appearing until they have resided 

 for some time in the ocean. 



An ingenious person and pleasant author* has suggested some 

 theories respecting the nature of the parr, and the generation of 

 the salmon (subjects intimately connected with each other), 

 which merit a passing notice. 



* Mr. Stoddart, in his " Manual of Anglers." 



