116 THE NEW ART OF BREEDING FISH. 



returned to their native rivers the same year as grilse 

 or young salmon, coming back to breed for the first 

 time. Mr. Shaw, in his Experimental Observations, 

 maintained that salmon fry did not attain the smolt 

 state before a period of two years passed in fresh 

 water, and did not migrate to sea earlier. He also 

 maintained that parr and salmon fry were identical. 

 Mr. Young maintained the contrary, and I believe 

 that Mr. Shaw now acknowledges that he was in err 

 ror, and that Mr. Young was right. I have never 

 met with a salmon fisher, learned in the natural his- 

 tory of salmon, who did not agree with Mr. Young. 

 The tardiness in the development of Mr. Shaw's ar- 

 tificially-bred salmon fry arose, in my opinion, from 

 his having taken the impregnated salmon ova from 

 the river Nith, and placed them for incubation in 

 ponds fed by mountain rills. The artificial spawning- 

 beds of Mr. Young were made in the river Shin, and 

 the impregnated ova taken out of it. In 1848, Mr. 

 Young wrote in the John 0' Groat's Journal, pub- 

 lished at Wick, a series of essays on the salmon, 

 which I transferred the same year to the columns of 

 Bell's Life. Mr. Young soon after collected them, 

 and they appeared in book shape, under the title of 

 The Natural History and Habits of the Salmon, &c. 

 In that pamphlet he sketched the mode of breeding 

 salmon artificially. In 1850 1 wrote the Book of the 

 Salmon. It is divided into two parts, — the first, by 

 myself, is divided into four chapters, and treats of 

 " thepry, principles, and practice of fly-fishing for 



