SALMO SALAR.
THE COJIMON SALMON OF THE BIUTISII WATEKS.
YOUNG OR GILSE.
Ok diis plate is represeulod thai
being tbe firsl. appeai'imce of Oie
of the couuuoii British Siilmmi generally kuowD by llio name of Gilse or GriKe,
n our eoasLs and in our estviaries afer ibe young—a few inches in length—has led
the rivers, and sought the sea iu the dr«;ss of tlic fry, or of niigiation. It is ii male fisli, two pirnds thirteen ounces in
M-eight; was Uiken in the Solway Firth in the month of July ; and is figured of the nnlural size. Tbe rapid growth of
the Gilse during the first months of its existence in the sea—proved fWmi repeated experiments by marking—had led
Ichthyologists into some erroi-s regarding its prenous development and progress ; but the size and weight, when lir.st taken
on our coasts irom the end of June and coromenoement of July, will nearly average that of the specimen represent^:.!.
As tlie season advsinees, they graduidly mcrense in size ; and before Uie run has ceased, they are tsiken Irom five to
eight pounds in weight; and in some remarkaWy dry seasons, where the rivei's iuid remained too low to admit them
before the August floods, tliey have been token from eight oven to ele\ en pounds in weight, and without having lost any
of the synnnetry of a youug and unspawned fish.
Ill this state, it Is marked by tho small head, the slenderne.ss of the body near tbe tail, and hy the general symmetry
of its form. When newly taken from the water, tlie coloui's are all clear yet delicate; the back and upper part deep greyish
gi'ecn, shading into sih ery wliite on the sides niid beUy, « here it is molloned by tints of blue and pink. The Vomer ha»
now lost its teeth upon its longitudinal surfi
i, but retains o ir part than what are afterwards
permanently ¡ircsent in its perfectly adult s