CLEARING UP THE QUESTION. 369 
the salmon species which ever went to the sea, called the 
“Salmo samulus,” because, after the great annual migration 
of the smolts, parr were yet found in the rivers, and it was 
thought that as all parr became smolts in fifteen months, 
those which staid behind must be of another species alto- 
gether. But science and fish-culture have dispelled this er- 
ror, and it is now known that the “Salmo samulus” is a 
myth. 
When the smolt went down to the sea for the first time, it 
was generally supposed that it returned to the river again in 
a period of from two to four months, and its extraordinary 
and unusal increase was always cited as one of the most val- 
uable qualities of the salmon; for, if it could grow from the 
weight of only two to three ounces to eight or ten pounds in 
three months, it was almost a Jusus nature. But, though 
smolts do grow very remarkably under favorable circumstan- 
ces, a strong doubt has been thrown upon the fact of salmon 
growing quite so fast as this, from the smolt state, by experi- 
ment and experience; for it has been found uniformly—in 
all cases where the waters were what are termed virgin 
waters, that is, waters never before inhabited by salmon—that 
when such waters were stocked with young salmon fry, or 
with ova laid down for hatching, a period of fifteen instead 
of three months invariably elapsed before the emigrating 
smolts came back to the river as well-grown grilse of six or 
seven pounds’ weight; and in the instance of much larger 
grilse, as those which are at times met with of even cleven 
pounds’ weight, that a yet longer period may have elapsed. 
This, however, is merely conjecture. In the late remarkable 
experiments in Australia, where no such thing as a salmon 
ever was known, it was clearly proved that the smolts were 
a year and some months at sea before they returned, and in 
other waters never before tenanted by salmon the same re- 
sult has ensued. This is very strong evidence against the 
two or three months’ theory, particularly when the evidence 
supporting that theory was gathered from well-stocked rivers, 
Aa 
