TAKING THE EGGS. 95 



and only three were found empty. As less than two 

 per cent had been picked out previously from the 

 troughs, this leaves ninety-five per cent of good eggs. 



" The explanation of the augmented impregnation 

 seems to lie in the following facts: — 



" The spermatozoa of the milt of the male are found 

 naturally living in an alkaline fluid composed partly 

 of phosphates and partly of other constituents which 

 more scientific men know better than we do. This is 

 their natural element, and, if it is not changed, they 

 will live in it for several days after leaving the fish. On 

 the contrary, if this liquid is diluted with water, as is 

 the case in the old way of impregnating, the sperma- 

 tozoa are killed ; they cannot live in the new element. 

 Paradoxical as it seems, water drowns them. 



" M. Vrasski says that he kept the spermatozoa 

 alive six days in a corked-up phial just as they came 

 from the fish, but that they died in two minutes when 

 taken from the fish into water. 



" With a view to testing these points, we tried some 

 experiments with the milt of trout last fall, using a 

 microscope that magnified a hundred diameters. The 

 results were the same. 



" Milt taken from the fish in a phial and secluded 

 from the air and water remained unchanged for days. 

 Carbolic acid killed the zoosperms almost immediately, 

 and water drowned them in two minutes. 



"The explanation, therefore, of the improved results 

 of the Russian method, is plainly seen. The zoosperms 

 reach the eggs in their natural element, and have time 

 and vitality to impregnate them, while they are at the 



