EEPEODUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT OE THE CONGEE. 23 



a ripe male was not visible in these last two, which were almost 

 ripe. Bnt I detected another constant difference which enables one 

 to detect a male with almost absolute certainty, whether they be 

 ripe or unripe. In the female the outline of the head when looked 

 at from above is triangular, the snout being pointed ; in the male 

 the same outline is much less pointed, the snout being distinctly 

 blunter. Also in the female the dorsal surface of the snout in front 

 of the eyes is arched, so that a transverse section of the dorsal sur- 

 face is an arc of a circle ; m the male the surfaces of the snout are 

 flat, its sides above the mouth being perpendicular, and the upper 

 surface almost level, so that a transverse section forms three sides 

 of a square. 



However, I found I still required some practice before I could 

 distinguish males among a number of live conger with certainty. 

 On December 21st I examined three small specimens, and concluded 

 that two were female, while the third was doubtful. I killed the 

 latter, and it proved to be a male 68 cm. (23 inches) long, with very 

 small and undeveloped testes. 



Of course the identification of the males is more difficult the smaller 

 and younger the specimens under examination. On January 1st, 

 1889, I received four small living conger, which were pale reddish 

 and delicate looking. I decided that two of these were females, 

 and therefore killed them, keeping the other two alive among the 

 males I was collecting. But the two I killed proved to be both 

 males, one of them having the testes very small, while in the other 

 they were moderately developed. One of these specimens was 

 1 foot 7 inches, the other 1 foot 7^ inches in length. 



Thus, in the course of December, 1888, and January and February, 

 1889, I collected several small living conger, which I believed to be 

 males, and I kept these in a tank by themselves in order that they 

 might sooner or later develop into a condition of sexual maturity. 

 On March 7th I made an examination of this collection of males. 

 There were eight specimens in all, in addition to the one which was 

 found to be perfectly ripe on December 13th, 1888. The specimen 

 when handled on March 7th, yielded extremely fluid milt, which 

 under the microscope seemed quite healthy, and was full of active 

 spermatozoa. But the specimen itself was considerably diseased ; 

 although it was lively and active when irritated, it had little strength. 

 It was quite blind, one of its eyes being reduced to a loose red 

 ulcerous mass, while the other was clouded and opaque all over the 

 cornea. The skin was also abraded at one or two places on the 

 body. These abrasions appeared as white patches which showed no 

 signs of inflammation. Under the jaw were other abrasions, which 

 were red and inflamed. 



