23 
formation of air or gas bubbles within the egg mass or 
through fungusing. 
This process, although fairly successful, is very 
tedious, consuming much valuable time, when the spawn 
taker is most busy. Many experiments have therefore 
been made to prevent adhesion among the eggs by both 
chemical and mechanical means, among the pioneers in 
this field being Professor Reighard. 
Following his directions this spring, I placed in the 
hands of Mr. John Dukes, one of our most experienced 
spawn takers, one quart of dry corn starch dissolved in 
five gallons of water and directed him to place therein, 
after impregnation and three minutes interval, one 
gallon of the eggs of the pike perch. 
Believing that the Professor’s plan might be improved 
upon, in another keg I placed finely dissolved swamp 
muck in a solution of about the consistency of porridge, 
two quarts of this to ten gallons of water, with instruc- 
tions that the spawn taker place in this such quantity 
of eggs as the keg would reasonably hold, three gallons 
being our rule. Mr. Dukes followed instructions, as 
far as practicable, and brought in one gallon of eggs in 
starch and two gallons in muck. He reported that if 
the starch was left ten or fifteen minutes without stir- 
ing it settled into a hard cake on the top of the egg 
mass, incorporating the upper layers, and that it was more 
work to keep the eggs free with the starch than under 
our former plan of constant stirring until the adhesive 
tendency disappears, as in the one case the eggs need at- 
tention only while being freed, while in the other they 
must be almost constantly stirred until the station is 
reached. 
He reported that the muck entirely prevented ad- 
hesion and gave no trouble whatever. 
After arriving at the station both lots were examined 
and then placed under running water as usual. The 
motion of the current carried over nearly all of the starch 
and a considerable portion ofthe muck. The next day, 
