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Part III. — Tenth Annual Report 
or Faroe will land from 5 to 700 of them, the majority packed in 
ice, though a few of the finest are brought to port alive — fastened, or 
rather slung, head downward in the well of the ship by a clove-hitch 
round the tail, each being thus marked by a, deep ulcer (from the ligature) 
round the tail ; that organ itself being often so congested as to resemble a 
red flag, and occasionally the ligature cuts right through. The larger ate 
also frequently marked by the wound of the gaff used in getting them on 
board. The halibut is also one of the forms which illustrates the large 
proportion of the immature in ordinary captures (by lines), many ranging 
from 16 to 18 inches to 2 or 3 feet. 
In the enumeration of the various kinds in the several collections it 
must be distinctly understood that the figures are only approximative, 
since — apart from the changes due to contraction — it is likely that eggs 
closely resembling each other in size have been grouped together, e.g., 
those of the gurnard, the brill, and Muller's topknot, the cod, green cod, 
and pollack. 
It is interesting to watch the succession of the various eggs throughout 
the year, but this subject is so extensive that a special report would be 
necessary to do it justice. Some extend over a long period, like those of 
the rocklings and gurnards, while others occur chiefly in the warmer 
months like those of the dragonet and sole. 
In former years the pelagic eggs were chiefly preserved in strong 
methylated spirit, no special method having been adopted in killing them. 
This had one merit, viz., a uniform degree of contraction in all the collec- 
tions thus made, but it rendered the oil-globule in such eggs as possessed 
such more or less invisible, while the pigment of the advanced embryos, 
and the outlines of the embryos themselves were indistinct. The yolk, of 
course, was densely opaque. 
Recently various experiments have been made at the Laboratory by Mr 
Collinge and myself with a view to find out agood method of preserving these 
ova, so as to ensure the best possible results in relation to contraction, trans- 
parency, permanence of the oil-globule, and the condition of the embryo. 
These are not yet completed, but it may be well to make a few preliminary 
remarks so as to enlist attention to the subject. As a rule the ova which are 
preserved for the present purposes (viz., identification of the species in 
connection with their distribution), are killed by adding a few drops (in a 
watch-glass or small beaker) of a saturated solution of picric acid in 5 per 
cent, hydrochloric acid to an ounce of water. They should then be care- 
fully washed in fresh water. If allowed to remain longer than three 
minutes, or where there was too large a proportion of the acid, the condi- 
tion of the yolk was unsatisfactory. Those killed in a saturated solution 
of corrosive sublimate (6 parts to 3 parts of glacial acetic acid), were less 
satisfactory. 
The ova were then preserved in the following solutions : — 
Picro-sulphuric (Kleiuenberg's), 2 parts. 
Methylated spirit, . . . . . 2 ,, 
2 per cent, acetio acid, .... 1 „ 
In this fluid shrinkage was comparatively small, and the oil-globule in 
the eggs of the rockling and gurnard were well preserved. The yolk was 
opaque. In picro-sulphuric acid 1 part and 2 per cent, acetic acid, the 
oil-globule remained in good condition, the contraction was slight, but the 
yolk was distorted, and the perivitelline space filled with an opaque fluid. 
The eggs experimented with, however, were ovarian (gurnard's). 
Shrinkage was great, the yolk opaque and distorted in those placed in 
picro-sulphuric acid 2 parts, glycerine 1 part, and 60 per cent, alcohol 2 parts. 
Very satisfactory results were obtained by the use of a fluid composed 
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