1902-3.] Dr Noel Paton on October Salmon in the Sea. 493 
3*7 per cent, which is the average of Tosh’s fifty-three male fish 
caught in the Tweed in October and November. 
A study of Tosh’s figures seems to show that the greatest weight 
of the testes is reached in river fish early in October. 
Table IX. 
Date. 
No. of 
Fish. 
Average W. 
of Testes. 
Smallest. 
Largest. 
October 
8 to 10, . 
10 
5-35 
3-6 
7*07 
9 9 
11 „ 20, . 
5 
3-65 
1*7 
5-1 
99 
21 „ 31, . 
19 
3-71 
2-4 
5*6 
November 
1 ,, 10, . 
7 
3-52 
1*7 
6*2 
9 9 
11 „ 20, . 
3 
3-58 
3-29 
377 
59 
21 „ 30, . 
9 
2‘62 
1*3 
3*69 
There can, I think, be little doubt that, as a rule, male fish are 
ripe in the beginning of October, and that from that time onward 
they are capable of shedding milt and fertilising ova. 
The enormous range of variation in the weight of the testes in 
October and November fish, as shown in Tosh’s figures — from 1*3 
to 7*07 per cent. — renders it difficult to draw any satisfactory con- 
clusion from the weighings in our series except that the testes 
are practically fully developed. 
III. The Composition op the Flesh and Ovaries. 
The amount of fat and total solids was determined in the 
muscle and ovaries of Nos. 4, 1, and 6 and 10, — 4 being in Class 3, 
1 in Class 2, and 6 and 10 in Class 1. 
The following Table gives the results in percentages : — 
Table X. 
No. 4. 
Thick. 
Thin. 
Ovaries. 
Fats, 
. 9'64 ... 
13-80 . 
... 9-27 
Solids, . 
. 34“24 ... 
35-67 
... 38*6 
No. 1. 
Fats, 
. 5*3 ... 
8-6 
... 11*5 
Solids, . 
. 29-5 ... 
30-8 
... 42-9 
