114 TREATMENT OF GRAVID FISH. [CHAP. in. 



vember and December 1864, and January 1865 as many as 

 thirty-six female fish were taken for their roe, the number of 

 milters being twenty-five, the total weight of the lot being 454 

 Ibs., or, on the average, six and a half pounds each fish. Accord- 

 ing to rule, the weight of the female fish taken having been 283 

 Ibs., these ought to have yielded 283,000 eggs, but as several 

 of the fish were about ripe at the time they were caught, they 

 spawned naturally in the mill-race, where the eggs in due time 

 came to life. The plan of spawning pursued at Tongueland 

 is as follows : Whenever the fish are supposed to be ripe for 

 that process, the water is shut out of the dam, and the animal 

 is first placed in a box filled with water in order to its examina- 

 tion ; if ready to be operated upon, it is then transferred to 

 a trough filled with water about three feet and a half long, 

 seven inches in breadth, and of corresponding depth, and the 

 roe or milt is pressed out of the fish just in the position in which 

 it swims. As soon as the eggs are secured, a portion of the 

 water is poured out of the wooden vessel, and the male fish is 

 then similarly treated. The milt and roe are mixed by hand 

 stirring, and the eggs then being washed are distributed into 

 the boxes. 



Mr. Gillone carries on all his operations with the greatest 

 possible precision. He has a large clear glass bottle marked 

 off in divisions, each of which contains 800 eggs, and he num- 

 bers the divisions allotted to each particular fish, which are 

 sown into a similarly numbered division in his box, so that 

 by referring to his index-book he can trace out any peculiarity 

 in the eggs, etc. 



Although pisciculture has been shown by means of what 

 has been achieved on the Continent and at Stormoiitfield to be 

 eminently practical, yet nothing beyond a few toy experiments, 

 so to speak, have been made in England ; indeed, we have had 

 a great deal of " toying" with the subject ; but all honour 

 to Messrs. Buckland and Francis they are evidently doing 



