THE SALMON-FISHERY 331 
One result of their abstinence is a peculiar pinched and 
hungry look on the male fish’s face. His jaws grow hard 
and hooked, and he is thus able to fight the many battles 
that lie before him, with far better chance of damaging his 
enemy. 
The “spent” salmon are called ‘‘kelts.”’ They are so 
weakened that they fall an easy prey to any strong enemy 
they may meet. Like eels, many, if not most, salmon die 
after spawning. With scanty gratitude men have advised 
giving the poor salmon no protection at that time on the 
theory that the spent adults will, in order to recover, if 
they ever do recover, destroy in the process more young 
fish than they are worth. On the other hand, as the kelts 
are not worth eating at that time, and are thought by some 
observers to be poisonous, it is poor policy to capture them. 
A fisherman who had taken a number was once asked by a 
‘protective’ enthusiast, if it was not true they were not 
good to eat in that state. The fisherman replied ‘“That’s 
true,’ but with a wink added, “‘Them’s not bad kippered.” 
The eggs of the salmon are remarkable. They are round 
and about one-quarter inch in diameter, of a pink colour, 
elastic, so that they bounce like a ball off a board. They 
will hatch out in a month, but if it is too cold, and cir- 
cumstances are not right, like a caterpillar in a chrysalis, 
they just wait till the conditions are more to their liking. 
They can be carried in ice for thousands of miles; stored 
in this way, they have been carried and successfully propa- 
gated in India, Australia, and New Zealand. 
The adult fish also can stand great ranges of temperature ; 
he may be caught as far south as lat. 37° north and as far 
north as lat. 70° north. The salmon so fill some rivers 
