THE FEEDING OF SALMON 117 
sand-eels and herrings in the stomachs, and reports 
that Jardine states that salmon are often taken on 
the coast of Sutherland, on haddock lines baited 
with sand-eels. Other observers have made similar 
reports. Even in fish shops where sea-caught 
salmon are sold, after being cut across, one may 
sometimes notice that herring had been the food 
last taken. 
There is, then, a great contrast between the con- 
dition of the stomach and intestines of fish caught 
in the sea and the condition observed in fish caught 
in rivers. In the former case the stomach is com- 
monly found full of herring or sand-eel food, the 
intestines being correspondingly filled with fecal 
matter, while in the latter both stomach and 
intestines are empty. We have, therefore, well- 
defined periods in the life of the fish, and long 
intervals during which no food is taken. 
One of the main objects of the investigations 
undertaken by Dr. Noél Paton and his colleagues 
was to determine whether salmon in fresh water 
require food, and in the event of corroboration of 
the results obtained by the Continental physiologists, 
to study the changes which must necessarily take 
place owing to the growth of the genitalia during a 
period of starvation. In the female salmon the 
growth of the reproductive organs is very great. 
It has been ascertained that in April and May the 
ovaries constitute about 1°2 per cent. of the weight 
of the fish, while at the spawning season they repre- 
sent as much as 23°3 per cent. In the male fish, 
the actual increase is not in so great a proportion» 
