SALMON 23 



prised at, as it is universally known that the Salmon 

 himself wastes from the moment he comes into fresh 

 water. 



' If the Committee make themselves perfectly ac- 

 quainted with the natural history of the Salmon, 

 they will be aware of the peculiar construction of 

 the eye of that fish. Dr. Brewsterf has been so 

 obliging as to examine for me the eyes of some 

 Parrs, which I sent him for that purpose ; and re- 

 plies, ' I have examined very carefully the crystal- 

 line lenses of the Parr, which I find to be the same 

 with those of the Salmon, which is a strong con- 

 firmation of your opinion.' 



' I must add, that these Parrs, as they are called, 

 are never found but in salmon rivers, or in such as 

 have an uninterrupted communication with them ; 

 and that they cannot be the young of the Bull 

 Trout, as the formation of the tail in that fish is 

 wholly different. 



' When it is considered that trout fishing is en- 

 jo3^ed by every class of people in Scotland, and that, 

 speaking with reference to the river Tweed only 

 and its different tributary streams, hundreds and 

 hundreds of people are trouting daily, and that each 

 person catches several dozen Parrs in a morning, 

 except in that interval between the disappearance 

 of the old fry and the appearance of the new in a 

 forward state, it will be found that the young 

 Salmon (for such I contest they are) so destroyed 

 will amount to considerably more than the whole 

 marketable produce of the river. 



* Now Sir David Brewster. 



