492 Proceedings of Royal Society of Edinburgh. [sess. 
weighed only 2*18 per cent, of the total weight, — corresponded, in 
fact, to the ovaries of Tweed fish in the end of June. According 
to Tosh’s figures, it takes a salmon four months to develop its 
ovaries from this weight to 15 or 16 per cent., while another ten 
days is necessary for the ovaries to reach the 20 per cent, of full 
maturity, and hence this fish would not he due to spawn till the 
end of February. 
The occurrence of such late spawning fish has given rise to no 
little trouble on the Tay, where such ‘ rawners, 5 as they are called, 
are not infrequently caught after the commencement of the fishing 
season. The fisherman naturally refuses to consider a fish caught 
after the termination of the close time unclean and unseasonable, 
while, according to a decision in the Sheriff Court of Perth, the 
capture of such ‘ rawners ’ is illegal. 
Since it is improbable that such a fish spawning in the end of 
February or March will meet with a male fish capable of fertilising 
the ova, the propriety of protecting it may be doubted. 
Similar late spawners have been recorded in the Usk (see 
Field , May 1903) and in the Loire. 
B. Male Fish. 
Table YIII. — Weight of Testes. 
No. 
Total. 
Per cent. 
Per S. F. 
3 
435 
5-12 
562 
5 
173 
4*66 
411 
7 
197 
3*68 
364 
8 
269 
5-35 
578 
9 
183 
4-07 
451 
11 
127 
3T7 
284 
12 
85 
294 
228 
13 
177 
4-29 
445 
14 
80 
2*40 
260 
15 
184 
372 
359 
16 
175 
4-07 
383 
17 
257 
671 
703 
18 
137 
3*62 
331 
19 
215 
5*73 
530 
The average weight of the testes per cent, of the total weight of 
the fourteen male fish was 4*2 per cent. This is in excess of the 
