3 2 4 DEVELOPMENT OF THE SALMON. 



and all kinds of Salmon traps is so tremendous, that not one tithe of the normal 

 number are now found in them. 



The ingenuity which has been exhibited in the invention of these " infernal machines," 

 as the fixed nets have been justly termed, and the amount of labor which has been 

 expended in their manufacture, are worthy of a better cause ; for in their arrangement 

 the habits of the fish have been carefully studied, and, in their manufacture, its capa- 

 bilities have been foreseen. The evil has, of late years, arisen to so great a height, 

 that the Salmon would soon have been extirpated from our rivers, had not the nation 

 wisely interfered to prevent the loss of so much national wealth, and given the fish a 

 fair chance of re-establishing itself in its former plenty. 



The shortsighted persons who plant all these obstructions forget that by this whole- 

 sale destruction of the Salmon they are acting against their own interests, and that if 

 they destroy the ill-conditioned and young fish, as well as the adult and healthy Sal- 

 mon, they condemn themselves to the probability of eating bad fish for the present, and 

 the certainty of total deprivation for the future. The fact, however, seems to be, that 

 each petty proprietor of a fishery is jealous of the neighbors above and below him, 

 and indiscriminately slaughters all fish that he can capture in his own waters, simply 

 that they may not pass into those of his neighbor. 



The preservation of this noble fish is truly a subject of national importance, and it is 

 to be hoped that, by judicious legislation and active administration of the law, the 

 Salmon may no longer be the rich man's luxury, but again hold its legitimate place as 

 the poor man's cheap subsistence. That it should ever re-enter the Thames, from 

 which it has been banished for more than forty years, is a dream that perhaps may never 

 be realized. But as the increasing facilities of transport become more developed, a Sal- 

 mon stream in the far north is virtually brought within a few miles of any railway 

 station in the kingdom, and every portion of our island may perchance procure this 

 delicious fish even before the well-known " curd " has vanished. 



While speaking of this curd, which is to the Salmon what the fin is to the turbot, 

 and the green fat to the turtle, it may be mentioned that the practice of " scoring " is 

 destructive of this delicacy, and indeed is one of the most ingenious methods of spoil- 

 ing the fish that can be invented. 



The life history of the Salmon is very interesting, and in many parts not a little 

 mysterious. In the short space which is allowable for the subject, I will endeavor to 

 trace the life of a Salmon from its earliest entrance into the world to its exit there- 

 from ; putting forward no particular theories, but merely enumerating the accredited 

 observations that have been made on this curious subject. 



We will begin with the cradle that is prepared for the expected brood. This is a 

 groove in the gravelly bed of a river, and is scooped out by one or both of the parents. 

 Even here a discrepancy exists between practical observers, some of whom aver 

 that the groove is made by both parents by means of rooting with their noses in the 

 ground ; others that the male Salmon scoops out the gravel with a hook-like appendage 

 that is developed on his chin during the breeding season ; while others declare that 

 the male never troubles himself about the labor of scooping the groove, his duty being 

 to watch over his mate and to fight any other fish of his own sex and species who may 

 intrude upon their home, and that the whole task devolves upon the female, who exe- 

 cutes it by twirling her tail and not by grubbing with her snout. 



The whole process of depositing the numerous eggs occupies on the average about 

 ten days, and, after it is accomplished, the parent fish leave the eggs to be hatched by 

 surrounding influences, while they themselves quit the spot and remain in the river for 

 a short period while they recover from the exhaustion caused by the process. During 

 this period they are unusually ravenous, and vast quantities of the young of their own 

 kind, which are about that time abundant in the river, fall victims to their insatiable 

 appetite. After a time, and about the months of March and April, they drop down 

 from pool to pool, in any flood which may seem favorable to them, until they reach the 

 sea, where they are supposed to remain from six weeks to three or four months, 

 when they again seek the river, vastly increased in weight and improved in 

 condition. 



