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Art. XVII. — On the Natural History of the Salmon^ and on 
the Salmon-Fisheries^ as stated in the Report from the Se- 
lect Committee on the Salmon- Fisheries of the United King- 
dom^ ordered hy the House of Commons to he printed, 11 th 
June 1824 with Remarhs. By a Correspondent. 
The attention of tlie country has long been directed to the 
Salmon-fisheries, in consequence of the numerous discussions 
which have taken place in our courts of law, respecting the 
rights of diirerent proprietors, and the legality of certain engines 
or modes of fishing. In the river T ay, and its estuary, litiga- 
tions on this subject were, at one period, carried to a very great 
extent ; and the heritors having fishings in the river, succeeded 
in establishing the coble-net as the only legal engine of fishing 
in the estuary, and suppressing all fixed apparatus, such as 
stake-nets. Two years ago, these victorious upper heritors 
brought in a bill to the House of Commons, for the ostensible 
purpose of promoting the interest of the fisheries in the river ; 
but the under heritors succeeded in convincing the House, that 
the end could not be gained by a change of a few days in close 
time, nor by the police regulations proposed; and the bill was 
thrown out. Last year, the attempt was renewed, to introduce 
a similar bill, and with no better success. The House, however, 
having the subject thus pressed upon their notice, and aware of 
its national importance, resolved to examine it in all its relations. 
A Committee was accordingly appointed, and the evidence taken 
constitutes the Report to wLich we now propose to direct the 
attention of our readers. With the exception of one v/itness, 
Henry Home Drummond, Esq. a Member,” all those exa- 
mined are individuals actually engaged as salmon-fishers, and 
practically acquainted with the subject. Among these, some seem 
acquainted only with coble- net fishing ; others appear equally 
well skilled in stake-net as in coble-net. There is a paper added 
to the Report, which was delivered in to the Committee by Sir 
Humphry Davy, on the Salmon-Fisheries, in which the princi- 
pal statements are at variance with the testimony of those wit- 
nesses who are the most extensive salmon-fishers in the United 
Kingdom. ' 
