Notes

Abstract

FROM the Scotsman of March 13 we take this interesting illustration of the intervention of biological Providence in Scotland. “On a recent week-end there was a remarkable run of salmon in one of the Border rivers. The fish ascended the cauld in large numbers, and in the shallow water on either side it was a matter of no difficulty to seize some of them as they made the passage. The spectacle of so many fish passing to the upper waters led to a general relaxation of the ordinary conditions. On one- of the days of the week-end, men, women, and boys could be seen in the water up to the knees and armed with gaffs. The operations of those actively engaged were watched by large crowds on the banks. The natural instinct for capture, aided “by the food stringency, became so prevalent that an unprecedented spectacle was witnessed on the Sunday. Many who had been attending the morning service found the spectacle of one particular hole, which had practically become a moving mass of fish, too much for ordinary restraint.” This is a sad decadence, but it was a miraculous draught of fishes! “The quantity of salmon taken at this point is understood to have been extraordinary. In the town in question, for the space of a week at least, there was no difficulty in keeping within the strictest meat rations. Two of the captured fish weighed 50 lb. and 48 lb. respectively.” We have seen in peace-times this extraordinary miracle of fishes—a vivid illustration of the abundance and insurgence of life—and we can vouch, by analogy, for the accuracy of the Scotsman account, though “Dora,” in her mysterious reticence, forbids us revealing the locus of the recent occurrence.