122 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



At Put-in Bay eggs are obtained from fisli captured in pound nets 

 and gill nets, often at considerable distances from the station. The 

 spawn-taker, who is employed to take the eggs from the fish as they are 

 lifted from the nets into the boat, has with him two or three 6-quart 

 pans, coated with asiihaltum varnish to prevent rusting, in which he 

 takes the spawn ; a wooden keg or tin can holding from 10 to 15 gallons ; 

 a 10-quart wooden pail, and a tin dipper. He is clothed in waterproof 

 garments, and his left hand is covered with a woolen mitten for con- 

 venience in handling the fish. 



After several ripe females and some ripe males are collected, a female 

 is taken, and the body slime, which will interfere with imi^regnation if 

 it falls into the pan, is carefully removed. The spawn-taker then 

 grasps the fish firmly in his left hand, just forward of the tail, with the 

 back of the hand downward, the fingers outward, the thumb above and 

 pointing outward, the head of the fish being toward the spawn-taker's 

 body. The right hand is placed under the fish just back of the pectoral 

 fins, with the wrist pressing the head of the fish firmly against the body, 

 the thumb outward, fingers inward, thus grasping the upper abdomen 

 firmly. The fish is now at an angle of nearly 45°, the body forming a 

 modified crescent, with the vent within 1 or 5 inches of the bottom of the 

 pan. This position of the fish's body brings pressure on the abdomen, 

 facilitates the flow of the eggs through gravity and the opening of the 

 vent, and prevents injury to them from falling too far. (See plate 34.) 



Gentle in'essure being now applied, the eggs flow in a steady, liquid 

 stream about a quarter of an inch in diameter, and a considerable 

 portion of them will be procured before the hand need be moved. As 

 soon as the stream slackens the hand is slowly moved toward the vent, 

 but only fast enough to keep the eggs coming in a continual stream. 

 When it finally stops the hand is replaced in its former position and 

 the process repeated until all tlie good eggs are procured. If, as is 

 frequently the case, when nearly all the ripe eggs are emitted a consid- 

 erable number of white ones appear, the work s'liould stop. 



The dry process of impregnation is now universally considered to be 

 the better, and the pan in which the eggs are taken is only dampened 

 by dipping it into water before the stripping begins. After two or three 

 females have been manipulated the n)ilt from one or two males is added 

 to the mass of eggs. This is done by grasping the fish between the 

 thumb and fingers 2 or 3 inches forward of the vent and moving them 

 toward the opening. The milt comes in a stream, an average fish pro- 

 ducing about a teaspoonful. If ripe males are scarce the fish is laid 

 aside, as he may be used again in a few minutes and considerable addi- 

 tional milt procured. 



When the pan is one-half or two-thirds full of spawn and milt, the 

 spawn-taker gently stirs the eggs to incorporate them thoroughly with 

 the milt, using for this purpose the tail of a fish, from which the 

 slime has been carefully removed. The pan is then partly filled with 

 water and the mass again very gently stirred. After standing two or 



