232 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
tlieir well-stocked feeding groiinds in the salt ocean; and the longer they remain in 
fresh water the greater the changes become, and the temptatiou to turn back for food 
correspondingly less. There is probably no one specified time when an abrupt change 
comes which deprives them in an instant of their ability and desire to feed, but in the 
writer’s opinion the transformation comes on gradually, increasing constantly day by 
day from the time they leave tide water till, at the near approach of the spawning sea- 
son, their throats and stomachs become entirelj" incapacitated for receiving food, and 
the desire and ability to feed leave them entirely; but, notwithstanding their scanty 
supply at first and their entire abstinence afterwards, the great reserve of superfiuous 
flesh and blood, which they bring Avith them in their own bodies from the bountiful 
ocean, enables them with little or no food in their stomachs to keep their vital organs 
in vigorous activity until their momentous mission up the fresh-water streams is 
accomplished.”^ In the ocean their staple food consists of smaller fish. 
It is a singular fact regarding the quiunat salmon that those, at least, that spawn 
along distance from the ocean never return to it again alive. They all die on their 
si)aioni)uj-grounds. This fact, I am aware, has been disputed many times, and is by 
no means universally accepted now, but its truth has been xiroved so repeatedly and 
conclusively that it is no longer oiien to question. My report for 1872-73 says on 
this point: 
111 March, when the salmon first arrive in the McCloud, they .are in fine condition. They are now 
bright and silvery, Avith shining sc.ales. They are fat and excellent for the table, but not very large. 
The spawn in the females is A'ery small. Their flesh is of a deep red color. Tbe males and females 
are almost indistinguishable at tliis time. This state of things rcmaius till August, except that the 
s.almon gradually deteriorate in quality and the eggs increase in size. The first raarlced change in 
the fish takes place a little before the middle of August. The salmon then become very black. The 
males grow deep and thin, and the dog-teeth begin to show theniseU'es and to increase rapidly in size. 
The females are now big with spawn, and the sexes are easily distinguishable. From this time they 
rapidly deteriorate. Their flesh shades off to a light, dirty pink. They become foul and diseased, 
and A'ery much emaciated. Tljeir scales are wholly .absorbed in the skin, which is of a dark olive hue, 
or black. Blotches of fungus appear ou their heads and bodies, .and in various 2 'laces are long Avhite 
patches Avliere the skin is jjartly worn off. Their fins and tails become badly mutilated, and in a 
short time they die exhausted. By the first of October most of the fish that were in the rir^er in 
August are de.ad. 
And agaiu: 
At the sjiawniug season the changes, esj)ecially in the male salmon, are very m.arked. Both 
sexes lose their bright and silvery coat. Their scales become absorbed into the skin, which grows 
very slimy and xierfectly smooth, like that of .a catfish or hornpout. Their color changes into a dirty 
black, and then into a dark, unclean olive color. Blotches of fungus and large jiatches of white, 
caused by abr.asion of the skin, apjiear .all over them. The fins and tail become mutilated. Their 
bodies grow foul and emaciated. Their eyes get more or less injured; they often become blind; 
swarms of parasites gather in their gills and stick to their fins. Their bodies reach the extreme point 
of attenuation, and, as soon as the sjiawning is accomiilished, they die. 
No aiiadromous fisli varies so muck in size as the quiunat salmon, and this is one 
of its most notable characteristics. In the Sacramento tlie average weight at Sacra- 
mento City in 1892 was thought to be about 20 iiounds, and the largest weighed 60 
Ifounds. In the Columbia the cannery men xnit the at^erage weight at about 23 xiouuds, 
and the largest on record weighed 83 iiounds. 
‘ “The Chinook Salmon;” 'transactions of the American Fisheries Society, 1894. 
