FISHERIES, GAME AND FORESTS. 



; 53 



When the eggs of two or three females have been secured take a male fish and expel 

 the milt in a similar manner, but the pressure should be applied lower down, nearer 

 to the vent. In comparison to the bulk of eggs little milt will be secured from a 

 male trout, though it will be sufficient to impregnate the eggs of several females. 

 A skillful operator will readily distinguish the sex of the fish, the males are generally 

 slim-bellied and of a higher color than the females, and, too; a skillful operator will 

 distinguish a ripe from an unripe fish from the touch, as the ovaries of the latter are 



SCENE AT A NEW YORK STATE HATCHERY. 



harder or more unyielding than the former. The eggs when they first come from 

 the fish are soft because of an outer coating or envelope, and they stick to everything 

 and to one another owing to an absorbing process through the orifice or micropyle 

 in the envelope. Placed in water alone the eggs would absorb water and fail of 

 impregnation, though milt were afterwards added. The milt is composed of infini- 

 tesimal spermatic particles, and when it is added to the pan of eggs one of the zoo- 

 sperms finds the orifice during the absorbing process and impregnation takes place. 

 Milt placed in a bottle remains active for several days ; when it touches the water it 



