THE TEUE PARR NEYER BEEN EXPERIMENTED ON. 93 



a-half inches ; the smallest three inches. The roe in all, without 

 exception, in the state it is usually found in the parr ; that is, in 

 no way developed. 



There were ten males caught at the same time ; some of the 

 milts were large and vascular, but not so much so as those seen 

 there in August. In four of these males the milt was not developed. 

 Upon the whole, these parr in December are in much the same 

 condition in this respect as in August. 



Some observations show a disproportion of males to females, 

 the former being the more numerous. Of thirteen caught on 

 the 3rd September in the Tweed, between Bield Bridge and 

 Palnoudie, two only were females, the rest males ; some were 

 eight and a-half inches long, others only four or five. In the 

 largest the milts were enormously developed. This was on the 

 3rd September. 



After all the true salmon-fry have left the river for the ocean, 

 the parrs abound, no matter which be the season of the year. 

 Thus I found them in the Lyne (a branch of the Tweed), at 

 at Romano Bridge, on the 30th July. Of six caught, all were 

 males, with milts two and a-quarter inches long. At the Crook, 

 on the 31st, often fish caught, six were parrs. In August, in the 

 Annan, near Lochmaben, nothing was taken with the fly but 

 parrs. Nevertheless the fishermen of the district were all of 

 opinion that these parrs were merely young salmon. 



It is worthy of observation that no direct experiments have 

 ever been made proving the parr to be a salmon. These would 

 require to be made with great care, and frequently repeated ; for 

 the accidental or occasional growth of a male or female parr to a 

 salmon size, no more proves the parr to be a true salmon than a 

 similar occurrence taking place in the mule would prove that 

 animal to be a horse. 



I have notes of thirteen parr caught in the Tweed, between 

 the Bield and Palnoudie, and examined on the 3rd September ; 

 of these only two were female in the usual state as to the roe ; 

 of the males, some had the milt enormously developed. They 

 varied in length from four to eight and a-half inches. They were 

 the largest parr I had ever seen. 



Parr may be found in the rivers they frequent, from near their 



