fish may shake, flounce, jerk, or plunge. With two or three fingers and the thumb of his left hand the angler holds his rod while the wheel-line runs out, regulated by the first or first and second fingers, relieved or assisted, as occasion may suggest, by the right hand, when it can be spared from its necessary occupation of rolling up the wheel line, as the fish settles a little or returns inwards. In this manner the fish is allowed to run right out, up, down, or across, as he may choose. But if in an outright dash of thirty or fifty yards aslant, ending in an outward-bound fling above water, the inexperienced angler should feel flustered, which he is very likely to do, and by some involuntary twitch of the running line let the top of his rod be pulled down to a level with his own head, then the tug of the last plunge will assuredly break his hook or line, or tear the hook from the mouth of the fish. Or, what is as bad, a sudden jerk or turn of the fish will give the line a momentary slackening, when the hook's hold, already so strained as to have widened its incision, will fall out, and your fish is gone for ever."

the spectators on the banks. Sir Walter Scott, in his novel of Guy Mannering, has presented a vivid picture of this species of sport, which is still pursued on the Tweed and its tributaries, but mostly by parties of rude marauders who are regardless of law, and kill vast numbers of fish during close time," or when the rivers are legally shut-from about the middle of October till February.

Now is the critical moment for the salmon-fisher, who must keep up his rod and give line. "The fish will then," continues John," allow himself to be led at ease to the angler's side of the river, like a bridegroom to the altar, when, on finding the water shallowing, he will again make another desperate effort, probably a new dash into the middle current; but too much exhausted to resist the still continued pull upon him, he will soon again fall into the shallow, where, on a sight of his enemy, he is again alarmed into a new effort, and again exhausted by turning his outward-bound head down with the water, again and again, and again, as if the parties were in the amusement of forming circles, until his own last efforts to keep swimming are made subservient to the cautious angler in moving him by degrees into the shallow, where, half dry, he must, like all the strong, at last yield to his fate, and fall panting on his side, while the line rolled up to within rod length, which is to be held with its top landwards, without slackening, and the fisher seizing him with the fore finger and thumb of his right hand across by the root of the tail (which is by far the surest method of seizure), lifts or rather slides him out head foremost over gravel and grass, and in mercy fells him with a blow on the back of the neck.

THE PAR.

The par is a small fish, which is found in great abundance in almost all rivers which are clear, and have a free communication with the sea. It varies in size, of course, according to its age, but seldom reaches a greater length than six inches, and is usually found below that magnitude. It is silvery in appearance, and marked by peculiar blueish bars or marks along the body; while a more nicely-forked tail, and one regular row of scarlet spots along the sides in place of two or three, aid further in distinguishing the par from the trout, the fish which it most resembles.

Of the actual character of the par, whether it is an independent species, or the fry of salmon, there has been a long-continued controversy. Many naturalists were inclined to hold it as a kind of mule, a creature betwixt the trout and salmon breeds. The dispute, however, may be said to have been terminated recently by Mr Shaw of Drumlanrig, whose lengthened and ably conducted experiments establish the par to be the natural produce or fry of the salmon. In a memoir communicated to the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Mr Shaw mentions that his first experiment on the subject consisted in the removal of a number of pars from their native stream to a pond, when he found that all of them assumed the perfect appearance of salmon fry or smolts, at the end of periods of time proportioned to their bulk when placed in the pond. He also satis fied himself that the change from the state of par that of smolt, which is marked by the appearance of a covering of silvery scales over the blue bars, always takes place at the age of two years; and that then, for the first time, the metamorphosed fry take their de parture for the sea.

to

But it was objected to these experiments, that Mr Shaw might have mistaken young salmon for pars in the first instance, so rendering his conclusions of no After going through this process with a twenty-two weight. To settle all disputes, he began his experi pounder (and the process would be the same with a ments with the ova or eggs of the salmon, first con forty-four), the writer can aver, that he does not constructing ponds for their reception. These ponds, three ceive that from the moment he has hooked such until he was laid on the grass, he ever for an instant had three ounces of more or less pull on the fish; for in all circumstances of run, regularity of pull is the sure test of true skill and final success. Indeed, I have seen many a fine fish laid on the dry gravel when the hold of the hook in the lip of his mouth was so slight as to be smaller than the steel of the hook-so much for equal pull and cautious management in the run. And, in short, a man is never a master angler so long as a desire to have his hooked fish to land excites in his feelings the least agitation, as the matter should be managed with that cool philosophical ease of mind which is alike above the paltry calculations of loss and gain and the common ridicule, which often tends to stir up a degree of childish fretfulness. This perfect ease is absolutely necessary to first-rate excellence and ultimate success."

in number, he protected by falls, pipes, and gratings in such a manner as to seclude them in a perfect man ner from all interference on the part of any other fishes whatsoever. Having provided a proper Mr Shaw was successful in capturing a pair of adu salmon, male and female, while engaged in depositing their spawn. By expressing a portion of the ova from the female, and of the milt from her companion, be had it in his power to transfer fertilised ova to ba ponds on the 27th of January 1837. "On the 21st of March, fifty-four days afterwards, the embryo fish wer visible to the naked eye. On the 7th of May, they had burst the envelop, and were to be found among the shingle of the stream. It is this brood which I hare now had an opportunity of watching continuously for a length of time."

Mr Shaw's descriptions of the brood, read to the Royal Society, and accompanied with specimens, will best sh Leistering is the name usually given to a murderous the general scope of the results. At the age of forty kind of sport pursued by salmon fishers in Scotland. days after the exclusion from the egg, the symmetry Armed with leisters, or spears with three-barbed prongs, of the young fish's form was but imperfectly develope a set of fishers proceed to the river's bank, and there" After the lapse of two months (7th July) the shar attract the fish by the glare of torches held over the was found to be materially improved, and to exhibit water by members of the party. When a salmon is miniature much of the form and proportions of a discovered, one selects it as his prey, and by a cool but ture fish. At the age of four months (7th September rapid blow transfixes it with his spear. In many cases, the characteristic marks of the par were clearly the fish cannot be secured or landed without plunging veloped. Two months later (six months old, 7th into the water, but this usually forms no obstacle, and vember) an accession both of size and strength several men may be seen floundering in the depths of apparent, and on comparing the pond specimens the stream while shouts and confusion prevail among the par of the river, no marked difference was perver

T

tible. The average length at this time was threeable about the middle of the previous April, by the

inches.

During the winter months, the general temperature of the rivers is so low, and the consequent deficiency of insect food so great, that the whole of the Scottish salmonidae which inhabit the fresh waters during that season are well known to lose rather than gain in point of condition. The same rule holds in regard to the young salmon in the experimental ponds, although not to the same degree, they having maintained comparatively a superior condition throughout the winter to those found in the river of a corresponding age and size. The temperature of the ponds, averaging about 40 degrees during the winter, not only keeps the young fishes which occupy them in a more active condition, but the insects themselves are also more abroad, and thus afford a convenient supply of food not to be obtained by those at that time in the river, the average temperature of which, in ordinary winters, barely exceeds 34 degrees. I shall now refer more specially to the specimens before the Society.

Number six is a specimen from pond number one, of the age of nine months, taken in the middle of February 1838. It exhibits little or no particular accession of size or condition to that of number five, but may serve to show the general appearance of the several broods of the young salmon in my possession at the age of nine months.

caudal, pectoral, and dorsal fins assuming a dusky margin, while, at the same time, the whole of the fish exhibited symptoms of a silvery exterior, as well as an increased elegance of form. The specimen in question, so recently a par, exhibits a very perfect example of the salmon fry or smolt."*

These experiments, conducted in an unexceptionable way, were confirmed by other observations. Being satisfied that the par never migrated to the sea until the age of two years had been attained, and the change from par to smolt had taken place, Mr Shaw watched to discover the descending shoals. He was successful on three occasions. "The first of these was in the first week of May 1831. I was able deliberately to inspect them as the several shoals arrived behind the sluices of a salmon cruive; and while they yet remained in the water, and were swimming in a particular direction, indistinct transverse lateral bars might still be seen; but as they changed their position, these became as it were lost in the silvery lustre. I also examined many of them in the hand, and could there also, by holding them at a certain angle in relation to the eye, produce the barred appearance; but when the fish were held with their broad side directly opposed to view, the character alluded to could not be seen. Its actual existence, however, could be easily proved by removing the deciduous silvery scales, when the barred markings became apparent, and, of course, continued so to whatever light exposed. The third opportunity to which I shall here refer occurred in May 1836, at which time, as I have stated, I compared a few of the descending smolts with those which (having been two years in my possession as par) had, in the confinement of the pond, assumed the corresponding silvery aspect of the salmon fry. The river during this month being remarkably low, I was thus enabled to ascertain more accurately the time during which they continued to migrate, which I found to be nearly throughout the whole of the month, but more especially in the course of the second week, in which the shoals were both larger and more frequent in their successive arrivals. Their external aspect was the same as that of the former shoals, and the average length, as usual, from six to seven inches."

Number seven is specimen twelve months old, taken from pond number one, on the 10th May 1838. It is much improved in condition, as well as in external appearance, in comparison to that taken in February, and has exchanged its dusky autumnal and winter coating for that which may be called its summer dress. It measures about three and three quarter inches in length, and is denominated, along with those of a corresponding age and size in the river, the May Par. Immediately after the migration of the two-year-old par (which the latter always effect about the beginning of May, under the name of salmon-fry), there is no other par, besides such as have been recently hatched, to be found in the river, save those which correspond with this specimen, which is the Pink of the river Hodder, alluded to by Mr Yarrell. As the summer advances they increase in size, and are actually the little fish which afford the angler in salmon rivers so much light amusement with the rod, during the months of August, September, and October. They remain over the second winter in the river, during which period the males shed their milt, and are found continuing their kind along with the female adult salmon, although still bearing all the external markings of the par, as I shall afterwards more particularly mention. Number eight is a specimen eighteen months old, taken from poad number one, on the 14th November 1838. It measures six inches in length, and has now attained that stage when all the external characteristic markings of the par are strikingly developed, and, in point of health and condition, cannot be exceeded by any taken from the river. All the males, at the age of eighteen months, of the several broods in my possession, Artificial ponds for the rearing of fish and supplying last autumn (1838) attained a most important corrobo- them when wanted for the table, were common in anrative stage, namely, that of showing a breeding state, cient times. The luxurious Romans possessed such by having matured the milt, which could be made to preserves, and we learn that one belonging to Lucullus flow freely from their bodies by the slightest pressure sold after his decease for upwards of £24,000. Comof the hand. The females of the same broods, how-paratively little has been done in modern times in ever, although in equal health and condition, did not exhibit a corresponding appearance in regard to the maturing of roe. The male and female pars in the Fiver, of a similar age, are found respectively in precisely a corresponding state, which may surely be admitted as most important evidence in support of the fact that all these individuals are, in truth, specifically

To conclude this subject, it may be added that pars are never found where salmon do not exist; and that large pars are always found to disappear when smolts disappear; being, indeed, as Mr Shaw shows, the same animals slightly changed. Other points in the history of the par are fully elucidated by Mr Shaw, whose memoir the disciple of Walton would do well to consult.

the same.

Number nine is a specimen two years old, taken from pond number one, on the 20th May 1839, after Saving assumed the migratory dress. The commencethe change, which was perfected by the whole of the broods about the same time, was first observ

tment

Pars are caught by the rod and fly, or with wormbait, in the same manner as trouts; and fishing for them forms a common and amusing sport to the juvenile anglers in our Scottish rivers.

FISH PONDS.

the way of establishing artificial ponds, and those
which exist are chiefly to be found in noblemen's pre-
serves. Yet artificial fish ponds may, with little or no
trouble, be made to yield a large and regular supply of
fish, and may be constructed at a most insignificant ex-
pense in any piece of low-lying waste ground inter-
sected by a rivulet of pure water.

The fish most suitable for ponds are trout, carp,
tench, perch, and minnows. Eels also thrive in ponds,
and, what has frequently been a matter of surprise,

* One or two of each of the three broods assumed the migratory or smolt dress at the age of twelve months.

these animals sometimes find their way to ponds of their own accord, without actual transfer. It is extremely probable that the spawn or young of eels and other fish is gobbled up and vented by birds in appropriate localities; there is at least no other rational means of accounting for the spontaneous stocking of remote fish ponds and lakes.

The size of a pond may be from one to twenty acres ; but a piece of water of from two to three acres is considered the most convenient dimensions. Of whatever size, the pond must not be overstocked, and it must not be left too long unfished. Fish ponds, to be on the most effective scale, should be in a series of two or three, the water running from the one to the other. This will allow means for periodical cleaning, if required, and for having a choice of fish. Some remarks of Daniel may here be introduced :-"In ponds so situated as to have communication with each other, never put into the upper of them either a pike, a bream, or a roach; the spawn will get through the gratings, and by that means all the lower ponds will unexpectedly swarm with them. The pike will destroy the fry of the carp and tench, and the two latter will consume all the food which should be the subsistence of both parents and progeny. Pike, bream, and roach should, therefore, on no account be ever put into the first or highest of a succession of ponds." He continues-"Some have recommended, in raising carp, to have three ponds. One wherein the fish are to spawn (which is mostly from May to July), and in which they should continue during the summer and ensuing winter. A second for the convenience of nursing up the young fry, into which they should be put at the end of March, or early in April following, choosing a calm but not sunny day for their removal, and being careful to prevent their being destroyed when coming to the sides of their new habitation. In this pond they may remain two years, and become four, five, or six inches long. The third or main pond is for the reception of those that are so grown as to measure a foot or more in length, including their heads and tails.

pond. Bream live well with perch in a warm situation; they are not, however, obtained readily in Scot land. Perch ponds should be let off and paved with channel stones every four or five years; many allow them to remain fallow for some months, and others sow them with grass and oats, a conceit laboriously encou raged by whimsy and theoretical writers of by-gone days."

The following engraving represents a pair of perch ponds: a is the upper or breeding pond; 6, the lower

pond; c, a covered sluice with moveable gratings; d, the sluice with outlet ; and e, the small feeder.

"The pike-pond," proceeds our authority, "if for breeding and fattening to some extent, ought to be large, covering from eight to twenty acres; its mean depth six or seven feet. One end, however, should be much shallower, and sown with bulrushes or other water-plants. Previous to stocking it with this fish, a sub-stock of perch or trout should by all means be introduced; otherwise, without a great supply of such sustenance, pike will not only become thin and illtasted, but quarrel and devour each other. To faci litate a steady supply of perch, small tanks should be constructed alongside of the leading preserve, with con necting sluices and flood-gates, so as to expel, when necessary, a shoal of live food."

Our author next treats of trout ponds :-"Choose from six to twenty acres, less or more, of an oval shape, but indented with small bays. Cast a long trench The proportions advised for the stocking these diffe- through the middle, from head to foot, noticing that rent ponds are-for the first sort, per acre, three or you can readily divert along it the stream just menfour male, and six or eight female carps, those of five, tioned, which stream is intended as a spawning place, six, or seven years old, in good health, with full scale, seeing that trout never shed their roe in dead water. and fine full eyes and a long body, without any blemish Let this trench deepen gradually as the ground de or wound,' are to be preferred. The pond must be pre-scends; so that at the intended foot of the pond it viously cleaned of all sorts of voracious fishes and other animals, as perch, pike, cels, and trout; the water beetle, and also the frogs; the newts or lizards; have a warm and open exposure with soft water, and all kinds of water-fowl kept from it. For the nursing pond a thousand or twelve hundred carp may be not more than sufficient for an acre; and for the main pond one to every square of fifteen feet is the allowed space, as their growth depends greatly on the room and quantity of food."

Our friend Mr Stoddart likewise treats of fish ponds, but mainly in reference to Scotland, where the fish must be of the hardier kinds-perch, pike, and trout. In either case, the transfer of the fish to the ponds may be made with little difficulty. On being caught with a hoop-net, place them in large jars of water, and cart them to their new habitation; if this be inconvenient, they may be carried in wet moss or straw. All fish bear carriage best in winter, and better during the night than during the day.

Ponds intended solely for perch do not require to be made large; they should slope gradually down towards the middle, from a depth of six inches to one of five or six feet. Water weeds ought not to be greatly encouraged. A series or chain of small basins, at dif ferent elevations, is preferable to a single large reservoir for this fish. These basins should be connected by a sluice and flood-gate, so that one may be readily emptied into another for the mutual convenience of cleaning and repairing. Also, the uppermost ought to be shallower than those below, and more exposed to the sun, so as to serve for a nursery and breeding

should sink nearly three yards, while the upper part thereof is kept shallow. Dig from either side of your trench, keeping its slope and level until within four fathoms of the intended margin of the fish pond. When this is done, turn your attention to what is called the dam-head, at the outlet or lowest part of the pon From it continue your trench for a short distance in the form of a paved sluice. Build stones, grass-sods, and clay, along the bank on each side, if needful, a drive in a few piles to strengthen it. Then set a fond gate at the outlet, and another to serve as a check in case of accident, three yards farther down, where your paved sluice terminates. A few cart-loads of car channel, not from the sea, ought to be emptied over the earthy parts of your pond, which otherwise are sp to get covered with weeds, or else to encourage els the marked enemies of trout in all stages. After this is done, let loose your stream and form your preserve introducing trout of about six inches in length, eight nursery of minnows, connecting it by distinct sluice or ten to every acre. Raise also at the head a sma both with the pond and its feeder. These are favourie food of trout, and fatten them at a quick rate."

To these remarks it may be added that little care need be taken to fetch apparently fine breeds of any species of fish from a great distance, as what seem po fish at the period of transfer will greatly improve good pond-feeding, and the easy unharassed life whe they enjoy.

Printed and published by W. and R. CHAMBERS, Edist
Sold also by W. S. ORE and Co., London.

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resent

CHAMBERS'S

INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE.

CONDUCTED BY WILLIAM AND ROBERT CHAMBERS, EDITORS OF CHAMBERS'S
EDINBURGH JOURNAL, EDUCATIONAL COURSE, &c.

GYMNASTIC EXERCISES-OUT-OF-DOOR RECREATIONS.

PRICE lad.

Cricket.

GYMNASTIC EXERCISES.

Gymnastics are those exercises of the body and limbs
which tend to invigorate and develop their powers.*
In an ordinary course of living, without due regard to
rules for promoting bodily strength, the frame becomes
relaxed, the muscles are soft, the circulation of the
blood languid, the bones and joints debilitated, and the
stomach weakened and dainty. To avert as far as pos-
sible these imperfections, gymnastics ought to form a
part of education in youth, when the joints and muscles
are flexible, and time is permitted for the various kinds
of exercises.

Precaution. It has not been unusual of late years
to conduct the gymnastics of schools on an improper
scale, by impelling young persons of comparatively
feeble frames to undertake feats and exercises which
have been at variance with the bodily organisation, or
at least highly dangerous and of no practical value. A
caution is necessary on this subject. "The best guide
we can have," observes Dr Andrew Combe, in a work
on physiology, "is to follow the footsteps of Nature,
whether it is in harmony with the mode of action as-
signed by the Creator to the parts which are to per-
form it. If it be so, we may proceed with perfect con-
fidence that it will not only improve the health, but
add to the freedom, elegance, precision, and strength
of our movements; whereas, if it be opposed to the
obvious intention of the Creator, we may rest assured
that no good can accrue from it. If, for example, we
examine the various attitudes and motions of the body
which occur in fencing, dancing, swimming, shuttle-
cock playing, and some of the better class of gymnastic
exercises, we find that they are not less graceful and
beneficial to the young who engage in them, than pleas-
ing to those by whom they are witnessed-just because
they are in perfect harmony with Nature, or, in other
words, with the structure and mode of action of the
joints, ligaments, and muscles by which they are exe-
cuted. But it is far otherwise with some of the ano-
malous exercises which were at one time so fashionable,
and which are not yet extinct in schools and gymnasia,
and which seem to have for their chief object the con-
version of future men and women into foresters, fire-
men, or savages, rather than into beings who are to
continue to have the use of stairs, ladders, carriages,
steam-boats, and the other conveniences of civilised
life. It is no doubt a good thing for a boy to be able
to climb up a perpendicular pole or a slippery rope,
when no other means present themselves of attaining an

A DESIRE for indulging in active sports and exercises has evidently been given to youth for the admirable purpose of promoting bodily health and strength, at a period of life when mental occupation or sedentary employment would not only have been unfitting, but positively injurious. Instead, therefore, of railing at the boisterous pastimes of boyhood, ridiculous as they may sometimes appear, we ought to view them, so long as kept within the bounds of moderation, as consistent with a great providential design in creation, and worthy of our warmest approval and encouragement. Impressed with these considerations of the value of youthful recreations, particularly those carried on in the open air, we should by all means afford reasonable scope for all the usual and harmless sports in which young persons are pleased to indulge; we should say to parents, let the boy have his marbles, ball, nine-pins, and bat; and the girl her doll, skipping-rope, and hoop, besides any other toys which would call their respective faculties into harmonious exercise. But an indulgence in physical recreations and general amusements is not to terminate with the period of youth. In advanced and middle life, it is of the greatest importance to health to relieve the tasked brain, to soothe and compensate the drudgery of our current labours, and to bring into exercise those parts of our muscular frame and intellect which professional duty has left unoccupied. To young men, especially, whose frame requires regular and bracing exercise, those out-of-door recreations which afford a certain degree of amusement are indispensable; and to them the contents of the present sheet are more particularly submitted. Our object will be to point out what sports may with propriety be indulged in, suitable to the different seasons of the year, and how they may be pursued with advantage to health and other circum

stances.

*The term gymnastic is from a Greek word signifying naked, the athlete or young persons who practised bodily exercises in the public arena or gymnasium of ancient Greece, being nearly in a state of nudity. The more gentle kind of gymnastics for females are termed calisthenics, from words signifying elegant

or graceful exercises.

.

looking straight forward; the shoulders are to be square, with the chest fully exposed, so as slightly to curve the back; the legs closed; the heels in a line, and closed; the toes turned out; the arms hanging straight down; the elbows held in to the body; the hands open to the front; the little finger touching the legs; and the thumb flat to the forefinger. When perfected in the art of standing in this position, which is called attention, as shown in fig. 1., the next thing is to be taught to march or walk, as in the case of a soldier on drill, the feet being alternately thrown out, and both brought toge ther into position, at the order to halt. The pupil next learns to bend the body and extend the arms. The first exercise of this kind is to carry the hands to the front, the fingers lightly touching at the points; now raise the arms, the hands still together, till they are held over the head, as in fig. 2.

The exercises are best performed in an open court or piece of ground, firm below, but without any stones to injure the feet or person; a grass plot is the most suitable.

The fittings are a climbing stand, vaulting bar, leaping poles, &c. The dress of the gymnast is to consist of easy-fitting trousers, and encircled with a belt or girth. The belt should pass round the loins, and not be too tight. The performances should be in the forenoon, or at least before any heavy meal.

The body must be drilled in the art of standing and In standing properly, the throwing out the limbs. person should be erect, the head held up, and the face

Fig. 2.

somewhat

The second motion is to learn to hold the arms out in front, the tips of the fingers touching, and returning to the position of fig. 1: this is to be done repeatedly. The third is to extend the hands separately, and raise them over the respective shoulders, the fingers pointing upwards. The fourth motion is to keep the arms and legs straight, and to bend the body for ward, with the head down, and the tips of the fingers towards the ground. Thes difficult motion is represented in fig. 3.

A fifth motion is to resume the posi tion of attention, allowing the arms to fall freely to their place, but still without bending the legs. These motions are trying to the pupil, and should be done gradually; the great object is to exercise the muscles bit by bit, and perfection is not desirable at first. Then follow other motions, as throwing the arms out in opposite directions, swinging the arms, &c. In these, it is of importance to exercise the left hand and arm fully more than the right, in order to make them as active and strong.