248 Dr John Davy on the Colour of the Salmon. 
dition, eating during the period, if anything, but very little, 
seems likewise to favour the opinion. Yet I am doubtful 
that this opinion is correct, and will bear being inquired 
into. If an examination be made of the salmon in its 
highest condition and richest colour, when taken in the sea, 
or immediately after entering fresh water, what, in relation 
to colour, are its several parts? Whilst the muscles of the 
superior section of the body, the thick part, where, compara- 
tively, there is very little fatty or oleaginous matter, exhibits 
the peculiar colour in perfection, those of the inferior sec- 
tion—the thin portion of the fish—are comparatively pale, 
and yet there there is a superabundance of oleaginous matter, 
and of a colourless kind. Moreover, there are certain 
muscles, those connected with the eyes and the jaws, and 
the great dorsal fin, which are altogether destitute of the 
colour in question. ‘Those of the eye, in the midst of cel- 
lular tissue, loaded with white adipose matter, are almost 
colourless. Those of the jaws, where there is very little 
fatty matter, are of a brownish hue. Those connected with 
the fin, where, too, there is little fat, are of a dark brown. 
There is another fact, with the same negative bearing. 
This is, that the air-bladder of the charr is of a pink colour, 
often of a beautiful tint (a refinement, as it were, of the 
salmon-colour,and of the colour of its own muscles), though 
altogether destitute of oily or fatty matter ; and I have seen 
it thus coloured in fish which, though in good condition, 
and cutting red, like the salmon, have not been remarkable 
for richness. 
The conclusion I am disposed to come to is, that the 
salmon-colour is unconnected with oil or fatty matter, and 
that it belongs to the coloured muscles after the analogy of 
the colouring of the muscles of various other animals, as 
witnessed in the instances which come under our observa- 
tion in the way of meats. In beef, mutton, venison, the 
hare of proper age, how dark is the muscular fibre. The 
same colour is seen in the goose, and still more strikingly 
in the swan, and in most wild birds, and also im certain 
fishes, especially of the tunny family. 
The results of the few chemical experiments which I have 
made seem to favour the same conclusion. The coloured 
