TAKING THE EGGS. 1 19 



is very different from the shell membrane, and is quite 

 delicate. This yolk envelope contains the yolk of 

 the egg, in which are several drops of oil, which form 

 the food that the young alevin absorbs in the yolk-sac 

 stage. In the yolk also floats the germinal vesicle, 

 which is a small cell, and which contains another set 

 of minute cells called the germinative spots or points. 



Here lies the germ of the egg, and the microscopic 

 opening called the micropyle, through which the 

 spermatozoa enter in the process of impregnation. 



When the egg dies, the membranes let in water, 

 which precipitates the contents of the egg in the form 

 of a soft, opaque, white paste. It is this which gives 

 the white appearance to the dead eggs. 



The number of eggs to a fish is given as one thou- 

 sand to the pound, but it is often more than this, and 

 varies very much with the size of the eggs, those hav- 

 ing small eggs yielding the most in number. I have 

 taken eighteen hundred eggs from a pound trout, and 

 once took over sixty eggs from a trout that weighed 

 just half an ounce immediately after being stripped. 



THE EFFECT OF THE WEATHER UPON THE SPAWNING 

 OF TROUT ON DIFFERENT DAYS. 



Trout seem to feel the changes of weather quite as 

 much as the air-breathing animals above water. In- 

 deed, I have a theory that the various conditions of 

 the atmosphere, which we describe by the words "raw," 

 "chilly," "disagreeable," "pleasant," "agreeable," 

 " delicious," are also shared by the water, certainly 

 the various electrical states of the atmosphere are, 



