s of them fall a prey, not only to the other
fish, but to the larvae of aquatic insects which prey upon them
very greedily. As I happen to know from my own observations, the
larva of the stone fly (May fly of Lancashire) and those of all
the larger ephemera (drakes), to say nothing of the fresh-water
shrimps, swarm in all the spawning beds, and no doubt destroy
myriads of the ova. All these would be saved by proper precautions
and well formed spawning-boxes, with good supplies of spring water
to feed them.

I think Salmo Salar has very greatly over-estimated the quantity
of Salmon fry that go down to the sea from the rivers. He speaks
of them going down by millions. Now we will take the river Hodder
as a river with which both Salmo Salar and myself are well
acquainted, and I will venture to say that, so far is this an
over-estimate, that if he would take the hundredth part of the
number he would be much nearer the truth. The Samlets when they go
to the sea may be reckoned to weigh eight to the pound, and two
millions would at that rate weigh one hundred and ten tons. Does
Salmo Salar think that one ton and a tenth of Smolts go down the
river Hodder to the sea on an average of years? I have more
favourable means of judging of the quantity that go down the river
Ribble than I have of those of the Hodder, and I believe I should
very greatly exaggerate their numbers if I estimated them at any
such weight as a fourth of that quantity. Again, the Hodder and
the Ribble are, in some respects, far more favourable for spawning
than many other rivers; for partly owing to the country through
which they pass, and partly owing to the rapidity of their
streams, the gravel is large and very suitable for spawning in;
there is also far less mud and sand in them, and the spawning beds
are much less liable to be choked up than they are in many other
rivers. No doubt the Salmon will make the best selection in their
power, but they can only select from such places as there are; and
if those are not suitable the ova must be in a great measure
destroyed. Since Ramsbottom returned from Scotland he has visited
the river Dee, about forty miles from Chester, and there he found
the spawning beds (ridds as Salmo Salar calls them) silted up with
mud and sand, and the ova buried in them to the depth of eighteen
inches. How or when were the newly hatched fish (supposing, which
is very improbable, that they ever did hatch) to make their escape
from s