32 DR. J. MURIE ON IRREGULARITY [Jan. 13, » 
highest consequence as regards the determination of species, sup- 
posed transition of allied forms, and questionable hybridity. 
With these remarks I proceed to reproduce my previously sup- 
pressed discussion of facts and published data. 
AFFIRMATION. 
I. The historical evidence.—What points to the truth of this 
(7. e. that the fish described are Salmon) has already been given (see 
P.Z. 8. 1868, p. 247); but it undoubtedly contains a weak point ; 
otherwise the whole matter were settled. While the ova received in 
the Gardens on the 8th January, 1863, may have, as related, veritably 
undergone all the subsequent changes ascribed, this does not prove 
their being in the first instance ova of Salmo salar. Messrs. Buck- 
land and Bartlett assume them to have been so, and add validity 
by stating that the size and appearance of the ova convinced them 
of their genuineness ; for the ova of the Great-Lake Trout differ suffi- 
ciently to be recognized by the naked eye. 
As a sequel to the heretofore described specimens, it is most im- 
portant to note that one of the fish produced from the ova of the 
Rhine Salmon, hatched in the Gardens in February, 1863, died on 
the Ist December, 1867. It was sent to Mr. Frank Buckland, who 
found on examination that it was a pregnant female. He states 
that 117 ova, nearly ripe, were present in the abdominal cavity, 
lying perfectly loose therein. This female weighed 4 oz., and mea- 
sured 83 inches in length. Mr. Buckland believes “that, had this 
fish lived another fortnight or three weeks, these ova would have 
been quite fit to be deposited in a nest, after the fashion of an ordi- 
nary full-grown salmon that had made its two or three journeys 
from the fresh water to the sea”’ *. 
Il. Eeternal resemblances to Salmon.—It can hardly be denied 
that, so far as external appearance is concerned, the fishes bear the 
stamp of young Salmon in the Parr condition. This applies more 
especially to that figured as No. 1 (Pl. xxi. P. Z. S. 1868); the 
other, No. 2 (/.¢.), is more brindled and spotted than is commonly 
the case in the Parr; but this in part may be due to the nature of 
its habitation. The form of the bodies, the relative dimensions of 
snout to head, head to body, shortness of maxillary, colour of adi- 
pose fins, dentition, shape of caudal fins, and contour of preeopercu- 
lum all agree with Salmo salar, and not with other species of Salmo. 
III. Published statements and experiments.—Reference to a few 
of the better substantiated cases of Salmon reared and continuously 
kept in fresh water may be interesting at this juncture. 
1. Yarrell (Brit. Fishes, vol. i. p. 172, 3rd edit. 1859) mentions 
that a Scottish landed proprietor in 1831 put some Salmon-fry into 
a freshwater pond. These were taken out in 1833, to all appearance 
* See an account of this interesting specimen in ‘ Land and Water’ for Dee. 7, 
1867, vol. iv. p. 820. Preserved in spirits as a preparation, this same fish was 
shown at the Meeting the evening the former paper was read. It now forms one 
of the series in the Museum of Fish-culture at the Horticultural Gardens. 
