Kendall. — Anatomical Facts 49 



ripen all at once but rather gradually, those near the posterior 

 end first. Sometimes it may take almost a week for a salmon 

 or trout to deposit all of its eggs naturally. Therefore, the 

 prevalent practice of firmly grasping a fish just back of the 

 gill-opening and squeezing for nearly the whole length of the 

 fish will result in expressing some immature eggs, incapable 

 of more than defective fertilization, and is likely to injure the 

 ovaries. If a second stripping movement is made, the col- 

 lapsed conditions caused by the first pressure renders easy the 

 displacement of eggs in the abdominal cavity and their conse- 

 quent retention by the fish. If time and space permitted, I 

 could cite many instances of such defects and injuries as I 

 have mentioned. I will describe in detail only two examples 

 observed by me, which will serve to illustrate what often hap- 

 pens, and possibly suggest what some particular trouble has 

 been that has for a long time puzzled some persons. 



Three landlocked salmon obtained at a state hatchery, which 

 the superintendent told me had been stripped but once, showed 

 displaced and retained eggs in each fish, and in two of the fish 

 the ovaries were so severely injured it is difficult to believe that 

 they could have ever functioned again. In one fish, nearly 18 

 inches long, the posterior part of the liver was mashed and 

 broken, with 6 eggs embedded in it from behind and showing 

 through on the outer side. Besides these, there were 21 dis- 

 placed eggs embedded in various parts of the anterior viscera 

 and 101 displaced eggs loose in the abdominal cavity. There 

 were 63 eggs normally situated in the oviduct and upper sur- 

 face of the ovaries. The ovaries of this individual were not 

 injured, but the injury to the liver appeared serious. There 

 were 191 eggs left in the fish. 



A rainbow trout, a little over 18 inches long, from 

 another hatchery, revealed the following conditions: A small 

 portion, containing one egg of the anterior end of the right 

 ovary had been broken off; the posterior end of the left ovary 

 was also broken off, but still had a mesovarian attachment. 



