THE SALMON FISHERIES OF THE LOWER COLUMBIA. 743 



In the Low IT Sacraim-nto the flesh of the qninuat in either spring or fall is rarely pale. In the 

 'olumbia, a few with pale flesh are sometimes taken in spring, and a good many in the fall. In 

 ['razor's River the fall ran of the quinuat is nearly worthless for canning purposes, because so 

 many are white meated. In the spring very few are white mealed, but the number increases 

 towards fall, when there is every variation, some having red streaks running through them, others 

 being red toward the head and pale toward the tail. The red and pale ones cannot be distin- 

 guished externally, and the color is dependent neither on age nor sex. There is said to be no 

 difference in the taste, but there is no market for canned salmon not of the conventional orange 

 color. 



As the season advances, the differences between the males and females become more and more 

 marked, and keep pace with the development of the milt, as is shown by dissection. 



The males have (a) the premaxillaries and the tip of the lower jaw more and more pro- 

 longed, both of them becoming finally strongly and often extravagantly hooked, so that either 

 they shut by the side of each other like shears, or else the mouth cannot be closed; (&) the front 

 teeth become very long and canine-like, their growth proceeding very rapidly, until they are often 

 half an inch long; (c) the teeth on the vomerand tongue often disappear; (d)the body grows more 

 compressed and deeper at the shoulders, so that a very distinct hump is formed ; this is more 

 developed in 0. gorbuscha, but is found in all; (e) the scales disappear, especially on the back, 

 by the growth of spongy skin ; (/) the color changes from silvery to various shades of black and 

 red or blotchy, according to the species. The blue-back turns rosy-red, the dog salmon a dull, 

 blotchy red, and the quinnat generally blackish. In the case of the blue-back, the flesh grows 

 pale in direct proportion to the external redness. 



These distorted males are commonly considered worthless, rejected by the canners and salmon 

 salters, but preserved by the Indians. These changes are due solely to influences connected with 

 the growth of the testes. They are not in any way due to the action of fresh water. They take 

 place at aboitt the same time in the adult males of all species, whether in the ocean or in the 

 rivers. At the time of the spring runs, all are symmetrical. In the fall all males of whatever 

 species are more or less distorted. Among the dog salmon, which run only in the fall, the males 

 are hook-jawed and red-blotched when they first enter the Straits of Fuca from the outside. The 

 hump-back, taken in salt water about Seattle, shows the same peculiarities. The male is slab- 

 sided, hook-billed, and distorted, and is rejected by the cauners. No hook -jawed females of any 

 species have been seen. 



It is not positively known that any hook-jawed male survives the reproductive act. If any 

 do, their jaws must resume the normal form. 



On first entering a stream the salmon swim about as if playing; they always head towards 

 the current, and this " playing " may be simply due to facing the flood tide. Afterwards they 

 enter the deepest parts of the stream and swim straight up, with few interruptions. Their rate 

 of travel in the Sacramento is estimated by Mr. Stone at about 2 miles per day; in the Columbia 

 at about 3 miles per day. 



As already stated, the economic value of any species depends in great part on its being a 

 " spring salmon." It is not generally possible to capture salmon of any species in large numbers 

 until they have entered the rivers, and the spring salmon enter the rivers long before the growth 

 of the organs of reproduction has reduced the richness of the flesh. The fall salmon cannot be 

 taken in quantity until I heir flesh has deteriorated ; hence the " dog salmon" is practically almost 

 worthless, except to the Indians, and the hump-back salmon is little better. The silver salmon, 

 with the same breeding habits as the dog salmon, is more valuable, as it is found in Puget Sound 



