THE SALMON. 287 



of the ova of various kinds Echinodermata and some of the 

 Crustacea* But, if we consider the strength of the jaws, 

 the temporal and masseter muscles, and examine the ar- 

 rangement and size of the teeth, we should be inclined to 

 infer that it exists on something more solid than the food 

 which Dr Knox supposes ; besides, the ova of the Echino- 

 dermata and Crustacea are shed at a period when most of 

 the Salmon have entered the rivers. Mr Yarrell, on open- 

 ing the stomach of a Salmon, found the remains of a Sand- 

 lance. Faber, in his Natural History of the Fishes of Ice- 

 land, remarks, that the common salmon feeds on small fish 

 and various small marine animals. Dr Fleming says their 

 favourite food is the Sand-eel. Sir William Jardine says, 

 in the north of Sutherland, they are often taken by a hook 

 baited with Sand-eels. At North Queensferry, the Salmon 

 is said to have been occasionally taken with a fly. In the 

 county of Devon, as well as in Loch Lomond in the north, 

 I have taken grilse with the minnow, and the common earth- 

 worm is a deadly bait for the clean salmon. On dissecting 

 the alimentary canal of several dozen of salmon that were 

 taken in salt water, I seldom failed in discovering the re- 

 mains of some kind of food in the lower intestine, the sto- 

 mach itself being almost invariably empty. In one out of 

 five I found the remains of Crustacea and bones, apparent- 

 ly of the Sand-eel and other small fish. I have repeatedly 

 found the remains of worms and aquatic insects in the in- 

 testines of these salmon that were taken in rivers and lakes ; 

 but, in those fish which were far advanced in roe, both sto- 

 mach and intestine were observed to be almost invariably 

 empty. 



It is mentioned by Mr Yarrell, on the authority of Sir 



* Trans. Royal Soc. Edin. 



