608 EEPOKT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



even np to the very Uuuliug-places, and that this was occasioned by 

 enormous masses of floating roe in ovcry imaginable stage of develop- 

 ment. In the beginning I thought that this roe had been brought in 

 from the sea by the current, as the codfish farther out had commenced 

 to spawn ; but, to my astonishment, I found that the quantity of roe 

 farther out was not large enough to warrant such a supposition. I soon 

 found out the real state of affairs. This was the time when the fisheries 

 were in full blast, and one large boat-load of fish after the other was 

 brought ashore by the fishermen. It was, therefore, an every-day occur- 

 rence to see the fishermen on their return from the sea everywhere busy 

 at work cutting and cleaning fish, talviug out the entrails, the liver, and 

 roe, finally cutting off the head, and throwing the fish on the shore or 

 on the many boats for the purpose of drying or salting. All this was, 

 by dint of long practice, done with an amazing rapidity and precision. 



These fishermen, hov/ever, had not the least idea that by thus tending 

 their wonted business they v/ere, at the same time, acting as "artificial 

 hatchers offish." But this was really the case. By the one cut which 

 opens the belly of the fish, a slit is invariably made in the roe-bag or in 

 the milt, a considerable portion of the mature eggs and the loose milt 

 flow out and mingle in the water. When the cleaning of the fish, as 

 often happens, is going on on the strand, a good deal of the roe coming 

 out of the fish during this process is undoubtedly lost by lying in the 

 warm sun too long; but often it will develop, even here, if it falls into 

 one of the numerous puddles of fresh sea- water which the going-out tide 

 has left. These puddles then take the place of the intermediate hatch- 

 ing-vessels, where mature eggs will certainly be hatched and be taken 

 by the tide into fresh sea iwater, where they can develop. 



I one day watched a fisherman who was cleaniug fish, and, for this 

 purpose, had selected a convenient place close to a small puddle. I re- 

 membered the place and let the man get through with his work. When 

 he had gone I went and examined the puddle. Its formerly clear waters 

 had disappeared, and it resembled a pool of blood, filled with roe to such 

 an extent that the water had a jelly-like consistency. Although the 

 conditions in this»case were not very favorable, as the puddle was too small 

 for the enormous mass of roe, and as the man, utterly ignorant, of course, 

 of his having acted as an artificial hatcher of fish, had, besides roe and 

 milt, thrown in blood and different parts of the fish, I nevertheless 

 determined to see whether some of the roe could possibly be hatched. 

 I therefore put some of it in a glass vessel containing fresh sea-water. 

 I soon had the satisfaction to see that nearly all the eggs floated toward 

 the surface, a sure sign that they were not yet spoiled. After awhile I ex- 

 amined these eggs microscopically and became convinced that they were 

 not only sound but that they had also become impregnated. The peculiar 

 l^reliminary process termed "the separation of the yolk" commenced 

 simultaneously in all the eggs, and during this and the following days I 

 could witness all the different phases of development which I had for- 

 merly observed in eggs artificially impregnated by me. 1 have, therefore, 



