MAY, 1882. 173 



advances ; and most exciting does the pursuit become, 

 carried on as it is at a disadvantage from want of a barb 

 to hold on the fish, even when it is transfixed with the 

 tapering graip handle. More than one drops an egg as 

 it finds itself struck, and we have only to examine the 

 bottom carefully to see how numerous are those eggs 

 already deposited in this favourite spawning ground. 

 Five fine thornbacks are soon in the boat; and as we 

 have an interesting tubful brought up by the dredge still 

 to examine, we hie away home with our varied plunder. 

 In almost every case these skates are on the point of 

 depositing eggs, having just arrived from deeper water 

 for this purpose. Down each Fallopian tube an egg is 

 on the way, with the tough gelatinous coating complete, 

 and the end horns curved towards each other to enable 

 the egg to pass. No other egg was coated even partially, 

 and it seemed as if the fish deposited two eggs, one after 

 the other, about the same time, before it commenced to 

 secrete the coating for the next pair. The undeveloped 

 eggs lie alongside the kidneys in two groups, from whence 

 they pass into the Fallopian tubes in pairs. In no case 

 did we find a single egg ready to be deposited, except 

 when we had seen the other dropped as the fish was 

 struck. We always find the eggs of the skate of all sizes, 

 like those in a laying hen, and the period over which the 

 spawning extends must be many months ; a great security 

 against any sudden destruction that might overtake a 

 spawning-bed through a specially low tide, a shifting 

 sandbank, or other eventuality. It is somewhat remark- 

 able to find a highly organised fish like the skate so 

 prolific of eggs, and these so strongly protected by a 

 coating as tough as leather, and not nearly so readily 

 penetrated as a hen's. Yet there must be some reason 



