FISH-CULTUKE. 171 



9G eggs from the one, and 207 from the other. Total, 305 ova. 

 Placed the ova in the bottom slate tray in the hatching-house ; 

 none of the other females seem within a week of spawning." On 

 October 23d I examined the ova, and found the disc risen to the 

 top, and circular. 



On the 27th October I netted the hill burns and got 20 fish, 

 mostly on the eve of spawning. On the 28th I visited the hatching- 

 house in the evening, and found some one had nearly closed the 

 sluice in the aqueduct, leaving the slate trays supplied lightly, and 

 the side wooden boxes so bare that, from the hang they bhen had, 

 the eggs near the upper end of the boxes were uncovered. Some 

 inquisitive and uninvited guest was the cause. 



The fish I had collected in the burns were all in the elm box 

 I had first made from Francis Francis's diagram, which with the 

 gravel removed forms a capital stew, and had been lately placed 

 in the Craigend burn. On the 30th October I noticed that they 

 did not consume the worms on which they were fed, this being 

 the third night of a white frost. On October 31st I found 2 

 dead, symptoms similar to those in the case of one that died on 

 October 29th, viz., the hinder part of the body much swollen, very 

 hard, and nearly cylindrical, the hardness extending forward to 

 the front ray of the dorsal ; anus much inflamed and bloodshot. 

 I dissected them. One proved to be a kelt, a very small quantity of 

 milt remaining in the sacs. The other had not yet milted. The 

 sacs were full, the milt being about the consistency of butter, the 

 flesh round the anus swollen and hard, the scales much rubbed off 

 the back, colour light, and no appearance of fungus. I then 

 examined all the fish in the box, and found 7 males slightly 

 affected with similar symptoms ; they were all kelts. I put them 

 into Craigend dam. I have no doubt the symptoms were sexual. 

 On the 4th November I again netted the hill burns, and caught 

 32 fish (no kelts), at least two-thirds of them baggets. Next day 

 I again went to Loch Leven, and found 14 spawners and two dozen 

 males ; only 2 spawners proved unripe. These I at once returned 

 to the lake, and from the 12 I took about 12,000 eggs, milting 

 with 14 males. I returned the kelts to the lake immediately after 



