200 SPORT IN NORWAY. 
filling again morning and evening. When necessary, 
fresh moss-stalks can be substituted. | 
It is of course best to procure the male and female 
fish to be operated upon direct from their breeding- 
ground, and as short a time as possible before the 
spawning commences. Where this is impossible, they 
should be kept in fish-boxes or reservoirs; care, how- 
ever, being taken that they be not kept too long in 
confinement before being used, as this would have an 
injurious effect both on the ova and on the milt. One 
male fish is sufficient to fructify the ova of a great 
many females, and can be used from six to eight days 
in succession. 
It is not difficult to ascertain when the female is 
ready to spawn. Her distended abdomen gives easily 
to a gentle pressure, and an undulating movement 
which is perceptible on touching it, shows that the 
spawn is already disconnected from the ovary. She 
should then be held by the head in a vertical position, 
so that the ova will of their own weight fall down 
towards the vent. When the fish are large, it is best 
to have three persons to assist. One takes the fish by 
the head, and the other by the tail, holding it hori- 
zontally over a dish, the vent downwards, whilst the 
third very gently presses along her stomach and sides. 
When the bottom of the dish has been covered with 
ova, in layers of two or three deep, the fish can be 
