SALMON. 
187 
scarcely at all known, nor the extent of its wanderings; so that 
however numerous if this fish were not accustomed to search 
out our rivers, we should scarcely be aware of its existence. 
In the course of many years I have only been informed of a 
very few instances of the taking of Salmon with a bait in the 
open sea, and those not many miles fi’om land; in a single 
instance also I was a witness to the finding of the posterior 
half of this fish in the stomach of a Skate caught at a considerable 
distance. But as the Skate does not bite its prey, so as to 
separate it into portions, my conclusion was that a Shark had 
first bitten all it could grasp, and the remainder had fallen 
within reach of the Skate. Beyond these instances I know 
not of any record of the existence of the Salmon in the deeper 
water of the ocean, although its haunts must be there when 
out of sight. Nor do we possess much better evidence of the 
nature of its food while in the sea, until it approaches within 
a small distance of the shore; although from its plump and 
healthy appearance, jomed, when in an early stage of its existence, 
to its rapid growth, this must be procured in abundance; and 
the armature of the mouth sufficiently shews that it is fitted to 
seize something of a substantial nature. Dr. Knox has expressed 
his belief that this food consists principally of the eggs of 
star -fishes, and others of the class Echinoclermata j but the 
quantity of this must be too small and precarious for the 
sustenance of thousands of these fish. Their stomach is often 
found entirely empty, but young Herrings and Launces have 
been discovered in it, and the latter in sufficient abundance to 
shew that it forms a favourite diet. Sir William Jardine says 
there is no better bait for an old Salmon than a young Samlet; 
and it would be amusing to suppose that after the Parr had 
served the purpose of a husband, the next step would be for 
him to form a meal for his hungry partner. 
But it is to Dr. Cobbold, P.L.S., we owe (in the Journal of 
the Linnsean Society, vol. vii,) a more particular account of the 
contents of the stomach and bowels of the Salmon, although 
indeed these remarks were made on it when taken in fresh 
water. He says, that in its usual condition the stomach is 
coated internally with a consistent white mucus of great tenacity. 
In ten instances only, from February to September, did remnants 
of fishes occur, and in all these nothing remained but vertebral 
