REPRODUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE CONGER. 27 



14 dr. Length of the fish 4 feet 5| inches ; total weight of 

 fish, including everything, 16 lbs. 2 oz. 6 dr. It may be supposed 

 that by taking out this female and squeezing her I caused her 

 death and prevented the normal extrusion of the ova, but my 

 subsequent experience shows that there is little probability in such a 

 supposition. 



It is interesting to compare the above weight and dimensions 

 with those taken from a female which died of disease on February 

 24th, 1891. This specimen was 4 feet 8| inches in length, and 

 weighed 22 lbs. 1 oz. The teeth and bones of the head were still 

 normal, and the ovaries immature. In the latter under the micro- 

 scope the largest eggs were found to be "35 to '45 mm. in diameter, 

 and to be separated from one another by fat- cells ; the eggs were 

 perfectly opaque. The ovaries together weighed 2 lbs. The in- 

 testine, liver, and other viscera weighed 1 lb. 7 oz. The stomach 

 and intestines, although containing no food, were evidently in a normal 

 condition, not collapsed or reduced in size. 



From this comparison it follows that the ovaries increase very 

 much in size and weight during the fasting period at the expense of 

 the rest of the body, while in the total weight of the fish a great 

 reduction takes place. It is evident, therefore, that the nutrition of 

 the developing ova consumes not only the fat in the ovary itself, but a 

 large quantity of additional material drawn from the rest of the body. 



The second of the two females placed with the males on January 

 24th died on April 22nd. For two days previously it seemed to be 

 in travail, gasping and twisting itself about as if trying to get rid 

 of its eggs. I expected to find the eggs riper than in the other 

 specimen, but when it was opened I found them rather less deve- 

 loped ; none were free, all firmly attached in the ovary ; they 

 measured '97 mm. in diameter (1 mm. = -^ inch). The length of 

 the fish was 5 feet 11 inches, weight 28 lbs. 9 oz. ; the two ovaries 

 weighed 4 lbs. 5 oz. This specimen was never squeezed or handled 

 in any way after its removal from one tank to another on January 

 24th, so that its death was not due to any mechanical injury. 



On March 15th two other female congers which had ceased to feed 

 were removed from the largest tank in the aquarium and placed in 

 the tank where the males were. As it now seemed hopeless to 

 expect any female to produce ripe eggs in the aquarium, I put these 

 two with six ripe males in a box, and sank the box in ten fathoms 

 of water in Plymouth Sound. I occasionally hauled up the box and 

 examined the fish. On August 18th I found one of the females dead, 

 but the other was alive and vigorous. The dead one measured 

 5 feet 4 inches in length. Its total weight was 33 lbs. 8 oz., of 

 which the ovaries together weighed 7 lbs. Q\ oz. By counting the 



