NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SALMON. 23 



effects should ever reach them, destroyed any sal- 

 mon, it would destroy all. If it destroyed the 

 salmon generally, why did it not destroy those 

 hundreds of poor pregnant and emaciated fish, 

 which have been lying at the pool of Totness weir 

 throughout the winter, waiting for an opportunity, 

 and almost beating themselves to pieces, in the in- 

 effectual attempt, to surmount that destructive nui- 

 sance ? These fish were not destroyed by lime 

 used in agriculture ; they were not destroyed at all, 

 until they were taken in nets, after the defence of 

 the river expired. Some of these fish, the females, 

 which were in such a state that they could not be 

 made use of, were put above the weir ; the others, 

 all unseasonable, were clandestinely sold about the 

 town, at a low price. The poor forlorn females 

 were sent up the rivers to breed, without their kip- 

 pers ; so there must have been a rare increase. 



c 4 



