ABDOMINAL MALACOPTERYGII. 145 



sea, where they recover their health and strength, 

 and increase greatly in size, returning again in the 

 summer to the rivers as before, very often (not al- 

 ways) ascending the identical stream which they left. 



In the spring, the spawn deposited in the pre- 

 ceding autumn, is hatched, and the fry, less than an 

 inch in length, ascend through the gravel, and 

 proceed to pursue the same course as the adults, 

 down to the sea, increasing in size as they go. In 

 May or June, they usually reach the salt-water, in 

 which they remain till the waning of the summer 

 warns them again to seek the shallows. Their in- 

 crease is very great and remarkably rapid, so that 

 a fish of the first summer, will often weigh six 

 pounds. Before the first spawning, the fish is called 

 a Grilse. It has been proved by experiment, that 

 fry confined in fresh-water, will grow and thrive, 

 without any communication with the sea.* The 

 Salmon has been known to attain the weight of 

 eighty-three pounds. 



The Salmon-Trout, (S. Trutta,) in its habits and 

 economy, much resembles the Salmon ; migrating 

 from the sea to the rivers, and back again. It is 

 considered as next to that fine species in value 

 for the excellence of its flesh. It is found in some 

 parts of our country, but principally in the streams 

 of Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. The largest in- 

 dividual on record weighed seventeen pounds. 



The Common Trout, (S. Fario,) which by its vora-' 

 city, and no less by its cautious vigilance, affords ex- 



* Yarrell's Br. Fishes, ii. 21. 

 VOL. II. H 



