Queries and Answers, 681 



elongation of jaw, afForded to most of our freshwater fish, to form the 

 receiving furrows in this important season ; but the want is supplied by 

 their sucker-like mouth, by which they individually remove each stone. 

 Their power is immense. Stones of a very large size are transported, and 

 a large furrow is soon formed. The P. marinus remain in pairs, two on 

 each spawning place ; and, while there employed, retain themselves affixed 

 by the mouths to a large stone. The P. fluviatilis, and another small 

 species which I have not determined, are gregarious, acting in concert, and 

 forming, in the same manner, a general spawning bed." — W. J. 



Additional evidence on the same subject, and referring to both species, 

 occurs at p. 133. of the Reports of Proceedings of the Committee of Science 

 and Correspondence of the Zoological Society of London y Part I., 1830-1831. 



Evening Meeting, Sept. 21. 1831. " Mr. Yarrell exhibited preparations 

 of the two sexes distinct both in the lamprey and lampern, at the time 

 they were about to deposit their ova and milt ; and gave the following 

 account of his investigation of this subject : — 



'* The common river lampern (Petromyzon fluviatilis X.) was obtained 

 and examined every week from March to the middle of May. Up to the 

 19th of April, more females than males were taken; but after this period, 

 the females being nearly ready to deposit their roe, the males were most 

 numerous, in the proportion of two to one. All the females taken about 

 the 26th of April were in a state to deposit their roe ; and the milt of the 

 males, now become fluid, passed in a stream from the sheath behind the 

 anal aperture, on making slight pressure upon the abdomen. By the 10th 

 of May nearly the whole of those examined had deposited their spawn. 

 The males were entirely void of any appearance of milt, and the females at 

 this time might be mistaken for males that had not spawned. The gela- 

 tinous matrix of the ova appeared swollen, and of large size ; and close 

 examination showed the ruptured membrane, and extravasated blood pro- 

 duced by the separation of the ova, with here and there an occasional 

 ovum still adhering. The kidneys (which have been mistaken for the 

 male sexual organs) were not observed to undergo any alteration, either in 

 size or appearance, during a long series of examinations. The males could 

 be distinguished from the females, externally, by their larger respiratory 

 apparatus and lips. 



" Seven examples of the lamprey (P. marinus L.') were received on 

 the 3d of May from the Severn, about which time they ascend that river 

 for the purpose of spawning. Of these seven, four were males and three 

 females : the appearance of milt and ova being most distinct. The kid- 

 neys, lying in the cavity of the abdomen, were of equal size in both sexes, 

 elongated and narrow in form, with the ureter running the whole length 

 of the outer edge. The anal opening is situated anterior to a small 

 sheath, which, when slit up, exposes four apertures, the two innermost of 

 which lead to the ureters ; the outer two open into the abdominal cavity." 

 — S. T. P. July 9. 1832. 



Notes on the Spawning of the Miiinow (Cyprinus Vhoxinus L.). — As 

 I have been so successful in my observations of the lamprey, I felt de- 

 sirous of ascertaining whether the same thing could be seen in other fish 

 (as, in natural history, it is by no means safe to reason from analogy) ; and 

 as there was a large shoal of minnows spawning near the place where I had 

 seen the lampreys, I determined to watch their motions. They happened 

 to have chosen a very convenient situation for being observed, being 

 between two large stones in the river, which lay about 3 ft. from each 

 other ; so that, by cautiously approaching them from behind one of the 

 stones, I got close to them without disturbing them. But after watching 

 them carefully and repeatedly within the distance of 2 ft., I can only speak 

 doubtfully of their operations ; for they were so numerous, and incessant 



