138 SALMON AND TROUT. 
milt over them. Whether these furrows are made conjointly 
by both spawners, or by the female fish only, and whether the 
snout or the tail is the organ used in the delving process, 
have been disputed points amongst naturalists. From the con- 
current testimony, however, of those who have had the best 
opportunities of observation, it now appears certain that the 
trenches are made by the tail of the female fish only, and that 
the male takes no share whatever in the more laborious parts 
of the domestic arrangements. The only extra-matrimonial 
function that he performs consists im exerting an unwearied 
vigilance to protect his seraglio from the invasion of rival males, 
all of whom he assiduously endeavours to expel—living, in 
fact, in a perpetual state of active hostilities. 
These conflicts are incessant ; and it sometimes happens, 
when a rival is either very fond or very fierce, that the domestic 
supremacy is only to be maintained at the cost of a prolonged 
and desperate fight. 
The weapon of attack in all these battles appears to be the 
cartilaginous bone or excrescence on the point of the lower 
jaw, which is used as a sort of battering ram, the fish, as de: 
scribed by Mr. Walsh, rushing on open-mouthed, and turning 
on his side in striking. In the case of the male fish being 
captured or killed, the female retires to the nearest large pool 
in search of a fresh mate, with whom she returns and completes 
the process of depositing her eggs. This she will repeat several 
times if her partner be removed ; and it is mentioned as a fact 
by Mr. Young, in his evidence before a Committee of the House 
of Commons, that nine male salmon in succession have thus 
been killed from the side of a single female, who then brought 
back with her, as companion, a large yellow ¢rout. 
In consequence, we may suppose, of the arduous nature of 
his military duties and reddish colour at this period, the term 
‘old soldier’ is frequently used to designate the male salmon 
after spawning ; and I recently examined an old soldier in 
which the whole of the back and head was one mass of scars 
and wounds. 
