10 THE LIFE OF THE SALMON 
ture of fresh water being allowed to enter the sea 
pond the fish recommenced feeding, and by regulat- 
ing the density of the water so as to obtain a more 
gradual transference from fresh to salt, the fish 
became thoroughly acclimatised. Owing, however, 
to an unfortunate accumulation of disintegrated and 
decaying seaweed drawn in from the outer beach 
through the syphon, and which was suddenly stirred 
up so that a large quantity of gas was liberated, 
many of the fish suddenly died, and the remainder 
had to be transferred to the fresh water ponds. 
After a second attempt had been made under 
healthier conditions, Mr. Muirhead, his Grace’s com- 
missioner, kindly sent me a specimen 13 inches long 
(33 cm.). It was a beautiful silvery little fish, and 
had been reared for two years in fresh water and 
one year in the sea pond. It was figured along with 
a specimen of a young fish from Galway river in the 
Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 
(xxv. p. 895). I understand, however, that for 
some reason or other the pond has again become 
unsatisfactory ; but it would appear that, given 
healthy conditions of sea life and suitable food, the 
artificial rearing of grilse is quite a possibility. 
These experiments under artificially induced con- 
ditions do not, however, teach us a great deal about 
the real life history of the salmon. The descent of 
the smolt to the sea is prompted by a most powerful 
instinct. Give fish in confinement as much and as 
carefully selected food as they can eat, and the 
silvery smolts are in no way induced to forego their 
seaward migration. For the healthy growth and 
