of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



83 



Table VI. — Showing Solids of Muscles and Testes of Male 

 Salmon having the Sea. 





Jan. 



March. 



May and 

 June. 



July and 

 Auff. 



Oct. and 

 Nov. 



Muscles, . 



Testes, 



2254 

 2-6 



2151 

 1-9 



2004 

 2-6 



2345 

 3-9 



1470 

 66 





2256-6 



2152-9 



2006-6 



2348-9 



1536 



The slightly lower figure in May and June is due to the fact that the 

 two fish examined in 1896 were much below the average as regards 

 muscular development. 



The two fish examined in October and November show a very small 

 amount of solids in the muscles. The average figure for the total 

 solids from January to August — 2191 grms. — is based on the examina- 

 tion of 11 fish, and the divergence from this manifested in these two 

 fish must be accepted with caution, and does not justify the formation 

 of any conclusions. Further data are required. 



From the Table given above it will be seen that the male salmon 

 coming from the sea closely resemble the female fish in the amount of 

 nourishment stored in the body. 



Amount of solids in muscles and genitals in salmon leaving the sea 

 from January to August — 



Female Fish, 2434 

 Male Fish, 2191 



In fact, the more extended examination of these male fish from the 

 estuaries further bears out the conclusion arrived at from the 

 examination of female fish as to the factors determining migration. 



Comparing the upper-water male fish taken in 1898 with those 

 taken in 1896, it is seen that the June fish in the former group 

 resemble the J uly and August rather than the June fish in the latter 

 group. What the explanation of this may be is not manifest. Possibly 

 an earlier migration to the river may have induced an earlier develop- 

 ment of the testes and a greater loss of substance from the muscles. 



C. On the Nature of the Phosphorus Compounds of the Muscles 

 of Salmon, and the Synthesis of the Organic Phosphorus 

 Compounds of Testes and Ovaries. 



From the study of the phosphorus compounds in the muscles and in 

 the testes and ovaries at various seasons (Report, p. 143 et seq.), we 

 came to the conclusion that the nucleic acid in the testes and the 

 ichthulin in the ovaries — both complex organic phosphorus compounds 

 — are built up from simple inorganic phosphates stored in the muscles. 



The recent reseaches carried on in Rbhman's laboratory (Berl. Hin. 

 Wochensch., 1898, p. 789) tend to show that, in dogs at least, inorganic 

 phosphorus compounds are not used in the body to anything like the 

 same extent as organic compounds ; and the fact that in our previous 



