Page:The Pacific Monthly volumes 1-3.djvu/84

 cans (four-fifths of it being thus pre- pared for export) brings a higher price than does the other species. The Chinook (spring run) is found in great abundance when at its best only in the Columbia, the quantity taken in that stream last year aggregating 33,000,000 pounds, as against 2,500,000 pounds taken in the Sacramento river and 1,000,000 pounds taken in Rogue river, these streams being the only ones that any considerable number of these fish enter during the spring months, rarely running in other coast streams until marked deterioration has taken place, greatly impairing its wholesomeness and value as food.

The eggs of this species, as of all the salmonidae, are much larger than in fishes generally and the ovaries are with- out special duct, the eggs falling into the cavity of the abdomen before they are excluded. The large size of the eggs, the fact that they do not stick together, and the ease with which they may be impregnated, make artificial culture of these fish a work of wonderful possibilities. By this means 95 per cent, of the eggs are successfully hatched, while in the natural

spawning of the fish only 5 per cent, survive on account of the freshets that carry away the eggs, and the predaceous fishes that prey upon the young.

In the spring the body of the salmon, when it enters the Columbia, is a beautiful silvery color, the dorsal and caudal fins being marked with round black spots and the sides of the head having a tin-colored, metallic lustre. As they near the spawning period marked deterioration takes place. This deterioration is due entirely to the development of the reproductive organs. As the spawning period approaches the male fish grows thin, his head flattens, the upper jaw curves like a hook over the lower, the eyes become sunken, large, powerful, dog-like teeth appear on both jaws, and the fish acquires a gaunt and savage look. This is not due to the change from salt to fresh water environment, as some suppose, but is entirely attributable to the development of the milt. This is demonstrated by the fact that the Chinook salmon, which enter the Columbia river in February and March and ascend to the headwaters of the Clackamas to spawn, are identical in