Kendall. — Anatomical Facts 51 



and, as a rule, were in the abdominal cavity. The eggs, as I stated, do 

 not all ripen at the same time; of that I am quite positive; those in 

 the posterior part of the ovary ripen first. 



The methods of stripping, as Mr. Cobb suggested, vary with dif- 

 ferent strippers. My observation leads me to believe that the trouble 

 has been due to rough handling; the caution I intended to express was 

 that in stripping the fish, more attention should be given to its struc- 

 ture. This is based upon two or more years' observation of fish that 

 had been stripped in various hatcheries. At some hatcheries there was 

 a decline in the number of eggs obtained from the brood stock; at 

 others the eggs were glassy and defective. The disclosure of these 

 conditions brought about an investigation in connection with the ana- 

 tomical work upon which I was engaged. It was found that while in 

 many instances there was apparently no injury to the ovary or oviduct, 

 many eggs were loose in the cavity, having fallen down and 

 moved forward and become, embedded in the viscera away up between 

 the liver and the diaphragm and various parts of the visceral anatomy, 

 which is an abnormal place for them to be. 



As for the injuries, they are not always apparent. As Mr. Cobb 

 says, some men have been breeding fish for many years, in some cases 

 breeding them from the same brood stock for a long time, with 

 apparently no damage to the fish. On the other hand there have been 

 a great many losses through death of brood fish, poor eggs, and various 

 other abnormal conditions. Many of these, it seems to me, may be 

 ascribed to rough handling of the fish. The Bureau of Fisheries in- 

 tends to conduct experiments this fall looking to an improvement in 

 the methods of handling brood fish. It remains to be ascertained Avhat 

 is the best method in order to secure best results. It is possible that 

 all of the eggs cannot be secured by stripping, or that even with careful 

 stripping some may be left. Then the question arises as to whether the 

 fish is harmed by having the eggs remain in it. Possibly there is no 

 injury. It is possible that they are naturally expelled; there is some 

 evidence to that effect. 



It is my suggestion, then, that we miust have regard to the anatomy 

 of the fish in stripping, and that more care must be exercised in the 

 operation. I would suggest that squeezing the fish several times until 

 blood and fecal matter are extruded is often the cause of injury. I 

 have seen that done at some of the hatcheries in order that the very 

 last egg might be obtained; undoubtedly it injures the fish. Instead of 

 beginning the pressure away up forward, as some do, and pressing down 

 along the whole length of the abdominal cavity until the fish is collapsed 

 and flabby, and then dumping it' into a pond to recover, it would be 

 better to begin at the back and very gently press out all the eggs 

 possible ; then put the fish back and let her ripen some more eggs and 

 thereafter press them out too-. Of course, it would be impracticable to 

 continue this indefinitely if the fish takes a week or two in ripening her 

 eggs ; but it is possible that all fish do not take that long. Some ripen 



