26 Fishery Board for Scotland. 



forced its way into a pyloric csecum, and had then either ruptured 

 the blind end of the same, or had broken the cyecum off from its 

 attachment to the gut. 



A specimen ( ? Saithe) showed one way in which the gut may be 

 perforated. That is by the agency of a sharp bone. Fig. 127 

 represents the condition of the organ. The gut had been perforated 

 at f/ 1 by a parasphenoid bone, 1*6 cm., which remained stuck in the 

 wound (fig. 145). The liver had been injured close to the aperture. 

 A portion had become decayed {ell., fig. 127). vScales of fishes were 

 found at this part, indicating that food had escaped from the gut. 

 The parts of the liver marked (I.) were normal. The original skin of 

 the liver had hardened. A new skin — a growth of the mesentery — 

 covered the liver, part of the ovary, and evidently the wounded part 

 of the gut. It was not attached to the liver ; a space (ca.) separated 

 it from that organ (fig. 150). 



An enlarged view is given in fig. 145. The bone had all but cut 

 the gut right across. The latter still held together on the side next 

 the liver. The lips of the hole had become thickened, and so had 

 the wall of the gut for about 1 inch (2 5 cm.) on either side. The 

 thickened lip (t.l.) pressed down on the bone and fitted on to the 

 broad smooth edge (e.). closing the aperture. The skin (sh.) covered 

 up the part. If this bone had not been arrested in the wound the 

 wall of the gut would probably have healed ud without leaving any 

 scar. 



A liver of a cod uad attached to it a sharp curved bone which was 

 evidently the first ventral interspinous bone of a species of flatfish. 

 It did not belong to Pleuronectes platessa. The sharp strong point 

 of this bone had probably pierced the gut or stomach wall. 



In another case two bones were found on the abdominal wall of a 

 cod. One was a large sickle-shaped bone, the first ventral inter- 

 spinous bone of a plaice. Its sharp point was embedded in the 

 muscles for fully half-an-inch. The part had been inflamed. The 

 second bone was the branchiostegal bone of a fish. 



I think that in both these cases the bones had been the agents 

 which perforated the gut. 



In the abdomen of Spams centrodontus, a mummified fish 

 resembling a sandeel, was found. No lesion was visible in the 

 alimentary tract. The pylonic cseca are wide tubes, but they did 

 not appear to be any weaker than the gut. 



In a large cod, which was in good condition, the mesentery of the 

 gut was fused to the bottom of the abdominal cavity. On the wall 

 of the abdomen there were two portions of hardened food. One 

 portion of the latter seemed to be part of the limb of a decapod 

 crustacean. ~No trace of lesion was detected in the stomach or gut. 



Damaged Liver of Saithe. — The posterior end of the liver was 

 adhering to the swim-bladder. An intermediate portion of the liver 

 was very oily. The swim-bladder was collapsed. On it there were 

 otoliths resembling those of the whiting (Gadus merlangus), 

 Their presence indicated that the alimentary canal had been 

 ruptured at some time. 



Ruptured Ovary of Cod (August).— The fish was 2 feet 8 inches 

 (80 cm.) long. Its abdominal organs were coated with ova. which 

 had stuck to them and marked them with a honeycomb appearance. 

 The mesentery hau grown greatly in thickness.* The eggs were 



