of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 287 
The quantity and numbers for each month were :— 
No. 2. No. 5. 
C.C. No. CE No. 
March, . 71°82 | 15,605 | 263°2 65,414 
April, . 582°47 | 147,952} 559°29 | 176,456 
May, . - - 34°30 | 10,907 
The quantities taken for enumeration were 84°94 cubic centimetres for 
No. 2 and 77:04 for No. 5, or about 13 and 9 per cent. of the totals ; and 
the numbers of eggs counted were 19,075 of No. 2 and 21,400 of No. 5, 
the total being 161-98 cubic centimetres, and 40,475 eggs. 
With regard to the fecundity of the fishes, these results agree very well 
with those deduced previously from weighing part of the ovary and 
enumerating the eggs. Thus, in the paper referred to in the Vinth Annual ” 
Report, I describe a female of 174 inches, and weighing 2 lbs. 10 ounces, 
with an estimated number of 148,470 eggs, and another of the same size 
and weighing 3 lbs. 02 ounces, with 223,497; the average for the five 
plaice there dealt with being 19-9 inches in length, 3 lbs. 10} ounces 
(1664 grammes) in weight, and 301,394 eggs. 
Before referring further to the facts brought out in the Table, I may 
describe some of the occurrences in regard to the fishes and their 
treatment. 
On 31st March a fresh male, quite ripe was put into tank No. 5, The 
female was observed to be lying apart from the males, all of which had 
conspicuous red spots, but not nearly so bright as one often sees on 
plaice brought to deck at the fishing grounds at other times of the year. 
The ovaries were sometimes enormously swollen, so much so that I was 
afraid that the “ege-bound” condition was about to supervene. It 
appears, however, to be natural, and a certain distension occurred before 
the eggs were allowed to run from the oviduct. After a “burst” of 
spawning they were notably reduced in size. 
On the 6th Aptil,a fresh ripe male was put with No. 5, and the 
spawning, which had been interrupted, began on the same night. On 
the occasions when No, 5 stopped spawning, she was usually observed to 
be lying away from the males. The latter, it may be remarked, appeared 
to have no contests for the privilege of fertilising the eggs, as with the 
lumpsuckers in an adjoining tank. They were always lying quietly, and 
often, or even usually, together. 
The ovaries of No. 2 were, as a rule, more swollen than those of the 
other female. 
On 13th April two ripe males were put into No. 5, and she spawned 
again on the 15th. 
With regard to food, mussels were only occasionally eaten, probably 
by the males; only on one occasion was any slimy matter which might 
have come from the intestines observed in the overflow, and in pressing 
the plaice taken from the tank to select those for the experiment, no 
excrements were pressed out. 
After No. 5 stopped spawning on the 26th, she was observed to be 
adhering to the vertical side of the tank, a position she occupied for a 
day or two, as if desiring to be freed from the attention of the males. 
Spawning was never actually observed, but the Table shows that it 
takes place usually at night, though it does not always do so (see 27th 
