NATURAL HISTORY OF THE QUINN AT SALMON. 
69 
Other points of interest determined are : 
a. The spermatozoa of the milt are active for only 3 to 5 minutes after the 
milt is mixed with water. 
b. Ova become incapable of fertilization after 5 minutes’ immersion in water, 
and good results can not be obtained after 1 minute. 
c. Ova can be exposed to air for half an hour provided they are kept moist by 
the ovarian fluid. 
d. Ova may be fertilized while immersed in the ovarian fluid, or in the slime 
from the skin, or in unclotted blood. 
e. Ova are not affected by immersion in normal salt solution for half an hour, 
and are capable of fertilization thereafter. 
/. Between the ages of 6 and 16 days, when the water temperature is about 50°, 
the embryo is especially sensitive and liable to injury. During this period the eggs 
should be handled with the greatest care. 
g. Fungus is not a great pest at Battle Creek hatchery, probably owing to the 
considerable amount of silt carried in the water and deposited on the mat of filaments. 
li. Ale vins have many enemies in the streams ; fry but few. 
i. The fry begin feeding and commence their downstream migration as soon as 
the yolk is absorbed and they are able to swim. 
j. The fry drift downstream tail first, traveling mostly at night and averaging 
about 10 miles a day. They are 4 or 5 months old when they reach the ocean. 
k. A few of the later winter fry, about 10,000 to the mile in the Upper Sacra- 
mento, remain in the headwaters all summer, which is deleterious on account of 
slow growth. 
l. The food of young salmon at all places and seasons is insects, larval or adult. 
to. Salmon spend from 2 to 4 years in the ocean. 
n. They usually return to the river through which they reached the ocean, 
because during their ocean life they do not get far away from its mouth. 
o. The later fall salmon ascend the Sacramento River at the rate of 4 or 5 miles 
a day, being about 65 days reaching Tehama from Rio Vista. The spring salmon, 
without doubt, travel faster. 
p. Salmon do not eat after leaving the ocean, and the stomach shrivels up to 
about a tenth of its normal size. 
<j. Salmon lose from 15 to 20 per cent of their weight in migrating, and from 10 
to 15 per cent more in spawning. 
r. The sexes can not be distinguished in salt water, but they differ greatly in 
fresh water. The males develop the long hooked jaw, the large canine teeth, the 
deep slab-sided body, and the color usually becomes more or less reddish. The 
females do not change in appearance except as is due to the loss of flesh, the 
development of the ova, and to the change in color from silvery to olive. 
s. The males vary more in size than the females and are of two forms, adult and 
grilse; the grilse resemble the females, but are much smaller. 
t. The percentage of fertilization in natural propagation is high, probably about 
85 per cent. 
u. The injuries received in fresh water are mostly due to exertions in spawning 
the last few ova. 
v. It is well known that all Pacific salmons die immediately after spawning 
once, and this investigation simply bears out the fact. 
