[1] There is a fish somewhat resembling the Brambling in the
Dunsop, a tributary of the Hodder, where it is known by the name
of the Bull Penk.
[2] My opinion that neither Trout nor Salmon spawn every year is I
think strongly corroborated by the fact, that previous to the Act
of 1861 the London fish market was supplied with Salmon of the
largest size, and of the best quality, in October, November, and
December. When these fish were examined, it was found that the
ovaries were but small, and the individual ova were not larger
than mustard seed. These fish could not have spawned that season,
nor would they have done so if left alive, if the growth of the
ova in the ovaries is uniform--I mean if the growth of the ova is
as great in one month as another--because in May and June the ova
in a female Salmon is four times as large as these were in
November.
Again, when the gas tank at Settle was emptied into the Ribble, in
September, 1861, all the fish so far as was known were killed
between that place and Mitton, Salmon as well as Par and Trout.
Supposing that Salmon spawn every year, and that the Smolts come
up the river, as Grilse in the summer of the same year in which
they have gone to the sea in the spring, there ought to have been
a great scarcity of both Grilse and Salmon in the Ribble in the
year 1862, but so far was this from being the case, that both
Grilse and Salmon were more abundant that season than they had
been for some years previously, but there was a scarcity of both
in 1863.
Again, when the Smolts were turned out of the breeding ponds at
Dohulla, Galway, the experiment was looked upon as a failure
because no Grilse returned the same season, not one having showed
itself, but many came the summer after, proving pretty conclusively
that in some rivers, at all events, the Smolt requires a year's
residence in the sea before it returns as Grilse.
[3] In the evidence of Mr. George Hogarth, it is stated that he
saw upwards of ninety Kelt fish in the mill lead at Grandholme, on
the Don, May 6th.
[4] Salmon are said to produce 18,000 or 20,000 eggs each, and I
have no doubt that a large Salmon will produce more, as one I
examined a year or two ago, of about ten pounds weight, had a roe
which weighed two pounds nine ounces, and the skin in which the
eggs were enveloped (they were not in the loose state in which
they are found just before exclusion) weighed three ounces, after
all the eggs were washed from it; so that there were thirty-eight
ounces of eggs. I weighed fifty of them, and found they weighed
sixty-five grains. At that rate, thirty-eight ounces would give
12,788, and 300 lbs. 1,615,000; but as they would be much lighter
when dried and potted than when taken from the belly of the fish,
we may safely estimate that the 300 lbs. would contain 2,000,000,
a prodigious number to pass through the hands of one tackle maker
in a season.
[5] From "Loudon's Magazine of Natural History."
[6] I have frequently found, when catching Trout for this purpose,
that the milt and roe were not ready for exclusion; when this was
the case, I put them into a wire cage, which I sunk in the water,
examining the fish every week, until I found they were in a fit
state for the experiment.
[7] I fancy that if the ova come in contact with the air on
exclusion, they are not so readily impregnated as if they are
always covered with the water, and therefore I have laid some
stress on the desirableness of keeping the air excluded from the
ova as much as possible.
[8] There is, however, one fact which must lead a casual observer
to suppose that the ova are impregnated twelve months before
exclusion. It is this: the male Par (Salmon fry) are at this
season, October, full of milt, almost ready for exclusion; whilst,
in the female, the ova are so small that they require a microscope
to see them individually, and the whole ovary is merely like a
thread, leading to the conclusion that either the milt of the male
is not required for the female Par, or the ova are impregnated
twelve months before exclusion. The fact is, that the milt of the
Par is used to impregnate the ova of the Salmon on the spawning
beds.
[9] When I commenced this paper I had no doubt that hybrids had
been produced between the Sprod (sea Trout) and the common Trout;
since then, having seen the fry said to be so produced, and on
making some further inquiries, I find there is some doubt whether
the female was a _Sprod_, or merely a white Trout, and therefore I
cannot confidently assert (as some time ago I believed I could)
that hybrid fish had already been produced. As some of my readers
may not know what a _Sprod_ is, it may be necessary to explain. In
the Ribble we have a fish ascending from the sea in July and
August, weighing from six to ten ounces, which, in appearance at
least, is a miniature Salmon. I believe the same fish is called a
Whitling in Scotland. Besides this, we have a similar but larger
fish, which begins to come a little earlier, and which weighs from
one to three pounds; this, in the Ribble, is called a Mort (in
Scotland a sea Trout). Both these fish (if they are two species)
afford splendid sport to the angler, who must never consider them
beaten until he has them in the landing-net. They are also
delicate eating.
_Note on cross-breeding of Fish._
Since the above paper was published, the breeding of Hybrids has
been successfully accomplished. I have had fish sent from two
different gentlemen living on the banks of the reservoirs
belonging to the Liverpool Waterworks; these were beautiful fish
(three in number), more like the sea Trout than the Salmon, and
the largest of them weighing two pounds. I had put them into the
brooks running into the reservoirs three years before.
I also learn from a friend that a beautiful specimen of the _ombre
Chevalier_ (French Char) was taken out of the Rivington reservoir.
About a thousand had been put there by me two years before.
[10] Persons conversant with the habits of birds will readily
comprehend me; for the sake of those who do not, I will just
observe that the flight of all the Wagtails is very peculiar,
being a succession of great leaps in the air (if I may be allowed
the expression), which form a series of curves, the bird rising
considerably at the commencement of each effort, and sinking again
at the close.
[11] The intrepid and unfortunate traveller Joseph Ritchie, who
accompanied Captain Lyon's expedition to Fezzan, and died there in
1819. Mr. Ritchie was a native of Otley, and an intimate friend of
Mr. Garnett and his brothers. The beautiful poem from which the
quotation is taken is printed in Alaric Watts's "Poetical Album."
[12] 1853.--I regret that in 1853, and for some years previous, we
have not seen one. I fear they are extinct. The smaller kind are
still numerous.
[13] The male Par is an exception to this rule.
[14] It appears to be a beautiful provision of Nature that mixture
with water should increase the sphere of its action. Spallanzani
found by actual experiment that three grains of the seed of a male
frog might be diluted with a pint of water without destroying its
stimulating power. See "Dissertations," vol. ii. p. 142, chap. 3,
Ed. "Mag. Nat. History."
[15] Mr. Thomson, of Primrose.
[16] Assistant Keeper of Printed Books in the British Museum.
Author of "Philological Essays," &c.
[17] The toad, when going to take a bee, points for a second or
two as beautifully as the best-trained pointer before it strikes
with its tongue.