132 FISH CULTUEE 



easily be expelled by means of a gentle pres- 

 sure of the thumb or finger above the vent. 

 When the female and the male are in this con- 

 dition they are called ripe, and the mingling of 

 the milt and spawn fertilises the eggs. Fish- 

 culturists generally now accomplish this end by 

 the Eussian or "dry" method discovered by 

 Vrasski and announced about 1871. Instead of 

 fertilising the eggs in water, as taught by 

 Gehin and Eemy, they are pressed from the fish 

 into a moistened pan and fertilised before any 

 water is poured on them. 



A careful man will not take fish from the 

 water by any abrupt or rapid movement likely 

 to frighten them. Having first thoroughly wet 

 his hands he will gently seize a fish by the head 

 with the left hand, and with the right hold it 

 firmly by the tail, not bruising it, until all strug- 

 gling ceases. It will become quiet in a minute 

 or two. In grasping the fish, the man's left 

 hand should be over its head with the thumb 

 towards his body ; the right hand should grasp 

 the fish from the underside, with the thumb 

 above and pointing away from his body. As 

 soon as struggling ceases the fish is held over 



