158 Investigations on the Life-History 



From the above Table it will be observed that the ovaries gain in iron 

 at the expense of the muscle, thus : 



1. Loss of Iron, 



Muscle of Fish in Lower Water = 0-1080 

 Muscle of Fish in Upper Water = 0-0763 



Loss of Iron by Muscle = 0-0317 



2. Gain of Iron. 



Ovaries of Fish in Upper Water = 0-0568 

 Ovaries of Fish in Lower Water = 0-0054 



Gain of Iron by Ovaries = 0-0514 



Total Loss = 0-0317 

 Total Gain = 0-0514 



Difference = 0-0197 



i.e., 39 per cent, of iron gained by the ovaries is not derived from the 

 iron stored in the muscles. 



CONCLUSIONS. 



It may be claimed that the results of the analyses have demon- 

 strated ( 1 ) that the quantity of iron in the ovaries becomes distinctly 

 increased during the development of that organ, (2) that a considerable 

 amount of its iron is derived from the muscles, which become corre- 

 spondingly poorer in iron, (3) that none of it is derived from the liver. 



Although the muscles supply the ovaries with the greater part of their 

 iron, yet there is a small quantity unaccounted for. The tissue which, 

 in all probability, supplies this, is the blood. If such observation had 

 been possible, it would have been of interest to investigate the changes 

 in the hsemoglobin of the blood. Since the iron has been shown to be 

 largely derived from the muscles, the amount from this source must be 

 comparatively small. There is no indication that the store of iron in 

 the liver is called upon. The iron which is stored up in the muscles 

 is probably obtained from the food, and kept in the muscles until the 

 development of the ovaries commences. 



