The Descent of Man

Infertile females might readily be mistaken for
males, as Dr. Gunther has remarked to me in
regard to trout. With some species the males
are believed to die soon after fertilising the ova.
With many species the males are of much smaller
size than the females, so that a large number
of males would escape from the same net
by which the females were caught. M. Carbonnier
(70. Quoted in the 'Farmer,' March 18, 1869,
p. 369.), who has especially attended to the natural
history of the pike (Esox lucius), states
that many males, owing to their small size, are
devoured by the larger females; and he believes
that the males of almost all fish are exposed
from this same cause to greater danger than the
females. Nevertheless, in the few cases in which
the proportional numbers have been actually
observed, the males appear to be largely in excess.
Thus Mr. R. Buist, the superintendent of
the Stormontfield experiments, says that in
1865, out of 70 salmon first landed for the purpose
of obtaining the ova, upwards of 60 were