248 
SAMI.RT, OR PARR. 
assist his mate; and still less is it shewn that the roe of any 
Salmon has ever been rendered fertile by the milt of a Belted 
Parr. 
It is said that the Samlet or Parr is not found in any other 
rivers than such as are frequented by the Salmon; but if this 
were true it would only amount to presumptive proof, and 
would argue as much in favour of some other species as of 
the Salmon. But extended inquiry has shewn that the Samlet 
is not in every case an inhabitant of rivers frequented by this 
king of fishes, nor does the latter invariably frequent streams 
where the Samlet abounds. Dr. Knox is confident, (“Lone 
Glens of Scotland,” p. 81,) that “Parr are not found in the 
Kale, in Roxburghshire, nor in the Tyne, in Haddingtonshire,” 
both of which ai'e frequented by Salmon; and Mr. Young, of 
Invershin, who is a competent authority on the subject, 
informs us that there are streams in Scotland where Parrs are 
found, although neither the Salmon nor Salmon Trout has 
ever entered them; and such is the case also in the west of 
England. The Camel is a river of Cornwall which opens on 
the north coast of that county, and there is an arm of it 
which is separate from the main stream by a bank which is 
sufficiently wide to prevent the passage of any fish that might 
attempt it. Salmon, therefore, are never seen in any portion 
of this separate channel, but Samlets are found in it in 
abundance at all seasons of the year. 
In a “Perambulation of Dartmoor,” by the Rev. Samuel 
Row, Vicar of Crediton, it is said, “Mr. Spence, of Mutley, 
has for some time been occupied in investigating the process 
of the growth of the young Salmon, so as to test the assertion 
of IMr. Shaw, that the Pai*r is the young of the Salmon at 
one period of its growth. For this purpose he has been 
supplied weekly with fresh fish from the neighbouring rivers 
from February to August, 1847. On examining his collection 
I find that he has obtained fishes distinctly retaining the 
characters of the Parr during the whole of the months of 
July and August, at which time it is generally understood 
that the young Salmon of the previous year have lost those 
marks, and have acquired their silvery coats, and gone down 
to the sea as Smolts; at the same time the Pinks of the year 
are increasing in size, being in August about five inches long. 
