Aiiicrlcfiii Fisheries ISocieiij. 157 



of them for the fourth time. But what led me to tliink that it 

 was possible for the female bass to spawn more than onee was 

 from a little discovery I made on a dead bass. One morning I 

 found a dead bass in the pond — the only case of dead fish 1 had 

 sc«n since the original stock had been put in tbere. and I was 

 anxious to know if I could identify the male or female l)y out- 

 side appearance. This fish appeared to be plump, and 1 decided 

 in my mind it was a female, but to be sure I opened her. She 

 had eggs in her, it was a female, and close examination of those 

 eggs disclosed that perhaps one-half of them was pretty fully 

 develojied, another portion not so much developed, and still an- 

 other portion a little more retarded. Xow, if that should be the 

 case when a bass first spawns, there might be a portion of her 

 eggs ripe and ready to spawn and it might require a little period 

 for the second batch to ripen, and likewise with the third batch. 



Mr. Titcomb : 1 think Mr. Beeman's experience with the 

 polygamous habits of another species there would perhaps con- 

 firm some of the oljservations about the habits of the bass. 

 (Laughter). 



Mr. Beeman : If the Society desire it I will take pleasure in 

 giving an account of the incident referred to, regarding the com- 

 mon roach or suntish. While I was gathering the Crustacea for 

 the small-mouth bass, my nets were placed in our mill-dam just 

 back from the overflow where I got the right current of water. 

 In passing out on this dam right at the crossing, a roach came 

 up there and cleared up his bed the same as the bass ; cleared oft' 

 the sand and dirt, leaving the gravel in the center of the nest 

 the same as bass do in their wild state. The first female to enter 

 the nest was the little roach that you would suppose too small 

 to spawn, she was in the act of spawning. This bed was so 

 placed that I was able to get ven- close to it; they did not seein 

 to mind my presence at all; T was able to observe the operation 

 very closely; I threw a plank across from the coi-iier of the wall. 

 running at right angles with the dam, got out on the ])laid<. and 

 my face w^as within a foot of the fish. This little female was 

 depositing her spawn there; perhaps she continued a space of 

 two or three minutes. While I was watching her, another female 

 of a larger size canu^ into the nest ; I could see plainly her sides 

 verv much distended with s])awn ; the male undertook to drive 



