How to obtain it. 



'55 



time, and the saving in labour is thus considerable. When small 

 quantities are to be washed they are done in buckets which are 

 kept scrupulously clean, and are used for no other purpose. 



It is quite easy, as a rule, to distinguish the sexes at spawning 

 time. The males are in their best livery, and are much flatter 

 and thinner in the body than the females, which are full and 

 rounded. With a little practice they can be distinguished at a 

 glance in most cases. There are a few exceptions, some specimens 

 being a little deceptive in appearance. I have met with female 

 fish yielding ova that have otherwise had all the outward charac- 

 teristics of the male ; and I have met with male fish which at sight 

 I have mistaken for females, but such cases are rare. The same 

 freak of nature occurs occasionally amongst birds, an undoubted 

 egg-producing female being found attired in the full plumage of a 

 male, and vice versa. One of the most remarkable instances on 

 record is the case of a hermaphrodite trout, which was discovered 

 by Mr. Thomas Andrews, of Guildford, and presented to the 

 Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons. The fish produced 

 both ova and milt, and the eggs hatched. 



Fig. 13- 



