634 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



From the above it will be seen that the mingling of roe and milt with- 

 out water is not entirely without ^ts prototype in nature, as it might 

 appear to a superficial observer, and that this reason, therefore, is with- 

 out force. There is in reality no advantage, except for a more general 

 fertilization of the roe, in gathering it in an empty vessel, sprinkling the 

 milt over it, mixing the two well, and then after a few minutes adding a 

 small quantity of water. In this manner far more eggs are impregnated 

 than when they are placed directly in the water, and thus physically 

 killed before the milt can make its influence felt. This procedure, as we 

 have shown above, is by no means icithout its parallel in nature, and can- 

 not be termed unnatural, although in nature it is carried out in a some- 

 what different manner. Care should be taken, however, in squeezing 

 the roe into an empty vessel to diminish the violence of its fall as much as 

 possible, because the eggs may be injured in striking the bottom of the 

 vessel, which danger is of course averted if they fall into the water. 



The fish from which roe or milt is to be extracted should be brought 

 as close as possible to the bottom of the vessel, which has previously been 

 moistened with a clean wet cloth, so that the distance which the roe and 

 milt have to fall may be diminished as much as possible. For this 

 reason flat vessels with a low edge are the most suitable, because in such 

 the fish can be brought close to the bottom, which is quite smooth, and 

 which has previously been moistened a little. At present round vessels 

 are generally used, but long, oval vessels, corresponding somewhat to 

 the shape of the fish, would be better, as then the fish might be held 

 over them in its full length. The vessel would, therefore, best have the 

 following shape : it should be long, oval, and flat, and have at the end 

 two raised places in the edge, between which the tail of the fish could 

 be placed, so as to prevent its frequently very violent movements, which 

 hinder the extraction of the roe and milt, while the long shape of the 

 vessel, corresponding to the length of the fish, makes it easier to hold 

 it. The fish may be placed almost entirely in the vessel and made almost 

 to touch the bottom without having either its head or tail resting on the 

 edge of the vessel, or letting only its tail rest in an indentation of the 

 edge. Pisciculturists should never be without such vessels, which make 

 the process of impregnation much easier and pleasanter. It is best if 

 two persons are employed in this process, one holding the spawner and 

 the other the milter, bringing their lower sides close together in a slightly 

 oblique direction over the vessel, and extracting milt and roe simulta- 

 neously, so that they may mingle as much as possible immediately on 

 leaving the fish. As one milter is sufficient to impregnate the roe of 

 3 to 5 spawners,the milter should in this simultaneous impregnation either 

 be only partially emptied, and should therefore be used for 3 to 4 spawn- 

 ers, or 2 to 3 of the latter should first be emptied, and while extracting 

 the roe from the last (the fourth) spawner the milter should be emptied 

 completely, thus making only the last extraction a mingling process. 

 This method, which at first seems a little more difficult, is certainly the 



