FISH NOTES 251 



be worth recording an example recently sent me by 

 Mr. Patterson of Yarmouth for examination. . . . The 

 example sent me, which had been removed from the 

 fish, was of the usual form of the complete roe : it 

 was 130 millim. long ; the anterior portion, consisting 

 of the female organ, was 95 millim. in length and 30 

 millim. at its greatest depth. The male organ, or milt, 

 occupied the posterior portion of the abdominal 

 cavity and was 35 millim. in length, tapering off 

 sharply towards its termination. The female roe 

 was divided transversely into two distinct lobes, each 

 contained in the usual investing membrane, but the 

 male portion (milt) was in a single mass, the division 

 between the two organs being more or less vertical, 

 but the former extending farthest to the rear along 

 the dorsal portion. The lobes of the female organ 

 thinned out towards their posterior outer margins, 

 and a portion of the milt obtruded between them 

 in the form of a wedge. Both bodies were fully 

 matured and had a healthy appearance, but owing 

 to their having been removed from the fish, which 

 had been previously smoke-dried, a more minute 

 examination was impossible. . . . That the occur- 

 rence of such compound sexual organs in the Herring 

 is of very rare occurrence (it is more frequent in 



