GENERAL OUTLINES OF ICHTHYOLOGY. 21 



Organs of Reproduction. 



The productiveness of fish — a productiveness compared 

 to which that of every other living creature appears insig- 

 nificant — is Hmitless as the seas through which they are 

 destined to range. The young produced by one Cod-fish 

 at a single deposit have been found to number little short 

 of four millions, and those of a Flounder to exceed one 

 hundred and forty thousand. 



With but one or two exceptions, fishes, as before stated, 

 are oviparous, 'bringing forth eggs;' and the organs for 

 this purpose are of the simplest possible description. As 

 the spawning-season approaches, two elongated lobes, or 

 rolls, of roe are formed between the ribs and the intestinal 

 canal, one on each side of the body : these, in the female, 

 are called hard roe whilst in the fish, and spawn after 

 being deposited ; and in the male, milt, or soft roe, in both 

 cases. The membranes or bags in which these lobes of 

 roe are confined are, in the female, sacs, and in the male, 

 glands, termed milts. The lobes of roe in the female con- 

 sist of a vast number of separate grains, called ova, or eggs, 

 partially glued together, and enclosed in the bag or sac 

 reaching to the side of the anal aperture, through which 

 egress is permitted at the proper time. In the male the 

 lobes of roe are smaller than in the female, and present 

 the appearance of whitish fat ; they remain firm until the 

 actual spawning-season, when they become gradually fluid, 

 and are ultimately voided in small portions at a time, on 

 the abdomen of the fish being slightly pressed. 



