APPENDIX. 249 



by one. If the ova of the female are ripe, they 

 will pour out from the abdomen at the slightest 

 pressure of the hand. Handle the fish gently. If 

 the milt of the male be ripe, it will also, upon 

 slight pressure, be observed to flow out like thin 

 milk. 



5th. Place your captured fish in the large tubs 

 or buckets that you may select for them till you 

 are quite ready to take the spawn. It is not a bad 

 plan to catch your fish some few days before they 

 go to hill, and confine them in some suitable and 

 healthy, roomy place (but not boxes or baskets), 

 whence you can take them out from time to time 

 with a landing net, and, if ripe, proceed to operate 

 on them immediately. 



6th. Fill your small tub (or tin bowl) three parts 

 full with clean cold water. 



7th. Examine the fish in the tub one by one, 

 and return the unripe fish to the river or reser- 

 voir. 



8th. Take a female fish that is ripe ; hold her 

 head with your left hand ; get an assistant to steady 

 the tail; gently submerge the lower part of the 

 body into your small bowl ; then gently and care- 

 fully pass your right hand downwards from the 

 head to the tail, the thumb and forefinger gently 

 compressing the abdomen, the other fingers fol- 

 lowing behind as assistants. You should also 

 slightly bend the fish backwards, in a bow-shaped 

 form. If the eggs are quite ripe, you will see in 

 an instant that they all pour out into the water, 

 following each other in a most rapid succession, 

 reminding us exactly of shot running out of a shot- 

 belt, when loading a gun. Continue your down- 



