The History of the Salmon. 189 



a month. To settle the question of whether impregnation took 

 place before or after the female deposited her spawn, Mr. 

 Buist had one box filled with eggs to which no milt had been 

 artificially applied, but not one of them hatched, although a 

 similar batch to which the milt had been added soon produced 

 a goodly supply of young. 



The following account of the hatching process will be read 

 with much interest, although, to many of our readers, from the 

 numerous accounts that have appeared from time to time in 

 the papers, the information may not be new. Mr. Brown in- 

 forms us that " on the 31st March, 1854, the first ovum was 

 observed to have hatched, which was 128 days from the depo- 

 sition of the first, and ninety-eight days from the deposition of 

 the last of the ova. A high or low temperature of the water 

 will accelerate or retard the hatching ; ova have been hatched by 

 us in sixty days in a constant temperature of forty-four degrees, 

 but in the rivers of this latitude from 100 to 140 is the time, 

 according to the season. We were furnished with a few ova, 

 and by keeping up a supply of pure water, we were gratified 

 by observing the little creature bursting the shell. The fish lies 

 in the shell, coiled round in the form of a bow, and the greatest 

 strain being at the back, it is the first part that is freed, and 

 after a few struggles the shell is entirely thrown off with a 

 jerk. The appearance of this fish at this stage is very interest- 

 ing ; what is to be the future fish is a mere line, the head and 

 eyes large, the latter very prominent. Along the belly of the 

 fish, from the gills, is suspended a bag of large dimensions in 

 proportion to the size of the fish. This bag contains a yolk 

 which nourishes t-he fish for six weeks, after which they must 

 be fed." When this bag is absorbed, the young salmon becomes 

 a " fingerling," or parr, from an inch and a half to two inches 

 long. The young parrs are permitted to enjoy themselves in a 

 pond, and are regularly regaled with boiled liver of the ox or 

 sheep ground small. Upon this diet they thrive, and in about 

 a year reach the size of the parrs found in the river. 



In 1 855 the first migration of the Stormontfield tc smoults" 

 took place. ' ' On the 19th May, Mr. Buist, becoming convinced 

 that the fry had become smoults, i. e. had taken on the silvery- 

 scales, caused a great many to be marked by cutting off the 

 dead, or second dorsal fin, and turning them into the river." 

 The sluice was drawn, but they showed no desire to depart till 

 tho 24th May, when a large shoal went off. " On the 7th 

 July, 1855, the first marked grilse was caught returning from 

 the sea, at a fishing station near the mouth of the river Earn, 

 a tributary adjoining the Tay, a little below Perth. This grilse 

 weighed three pounds, which was a large growth in so short a 

 time, "as the weight of a smoult before it reaches the tidal 



