NON) LAEVM EGG OF AMIA AND US CLEAVAGE. Bey 
motion as to be easily mistaken for them when seen at a dis- 
tance of some yards, as from a boat. A stranger to the fish 
and its habits might wonder at the closeness of the swarm, but, 
if he did not stop to examine, he would take them for tadpoles. 
Dr. Fiilleborn was in such haste for priority that he could 
not stop to settle the important question as to whether the first 
cleavage grooves actually reach the vegetative pole of the egg. 
«The first grooves,” he says, ‘‘ appear indeed to reach the vege- 
tative pole; but the investigation has not advanced far enough 
to admit of definite statements.” This question might have 
easily been settled on the living egg, and if the material 
collected was so poorly preserved as not to admit of positive 
statements on this point, it may be more “complete” than 
instructive. 
Only a little over four pages of this preliminary paper were 
devoted to Amia,— certainly enough to show the need of more 
careful observation. 
The third paper to be mentioned in this connection is that 
of Bashford Dean,? who affirms several times that he has fully 
confirmed the statements of Fiilleborn on the “general” and 
“spawning habits of Amia.’’ Perhaps the above remarks are 
not superfluous after such confirmation. As Dr. Dean seems 
to have depended a good deal upon what ‘‘the fishermen stated,” 
the confirmations offered are not always very confirming. 
It should be said, however, that the fishermen of Pewaukee 
and Oconomowoc have had many opportunities for instruction 
since 1887, and some of them are now better informed on the 
habits of Amia than they were found to be at that time. Some 
of the statements credited to them are entirely accurate, some 
are crude guesses, and others pure “‘fish stories.” The following 
will serve as examples: 
“The fish were observed depositing their eggs as early as 
April 25, and before the rst of May the spawning appeared to 
have been generally completed.” Although no authority is 
quoted, this is evidently a statement based upon a fisherman’s 
story. It so happened that we collected eggs and larvae from 
8 Bashford Dean: The Early Development of Amia. Quart. Journ. Micr. Sct., 
XXXVIII. February, 1896. 
