of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 
257 
specimens, caught in the Firth of Forth, enabled computation to be made, 
with an approximation to exactness, of the number of ova present at the 
time in the ovaries. The details are as follows : — 
Length of 
Fish 
(in inches). 
Weight 
of 
J; ISil. 
Weight of 
Ovaries 
^111 gralllis ), 
Weight of 
part taken 
Number of 
Ova 
counted. 
Total 
Number 
of Ova 
in Ovaries. 
1 
lOJ oz. 
277 
10 
( Large, 677 
\ Small, 3271 
( 3948 
18,752 
90,606 
109,358 
2 
16i 
343 
10 
( Large, 770 
\ Small, 3070 
26,411 
105,301 
( 3840 
131,712 
My notes on the appearance of the ovaries of these specimens are, 
' Markedly ripe ; hyaline ova compose fully half of mass ; probably partly 
* spent.' The large hyaline ova were from 1 *! 4 to 1 '2 mm. in diameter ; the 
smaller ranged from 0*8 mm. to 0'06 mm. All the ova in the part taken 
were enumerated, the more minute requiring the aid of a lens. From what I 
have stated, it is evident that in the whiting the process of the growth of 
the ova is gradual, and that successive crops as they become mature are 
shed, the process of spawning probably occupying six weeks or two 
months. The two specimens described in the table had almost certainly 
shed a considerable proportion of their ova, and thus it is difficult to give 
numerical expression to the fecundity of this species. The number of ova 
produced is probably at least between 200,000 and 300,000. It may be 
pointed out that in the specimens examined the ratio of the weight of 
th^ ovaries to the weight of the rest of the fish was small in comparison 
with other species. The average of this ratio for nine specimens was 
less than 1 to 10 (93"24 grains to each 1000 grains of the rest of the 
body). It is instructive, with reference to the foregoing remarks, to com- 
pare the ratios in March and May. The average ratio for four specimens 
in March was 112-3; the highest being 181-74, and the lowest 90*65. 
The average for four specimens in May was 54*9 ; the highest being 64*18 
and the lowest only 35*66. The great decrease in the relative proportion of 
the reproductive organs in May, with the presence in it all along of quite 
immature minute ova, demonstrates how gradual the spawning process is. 
Saithe (Gadiis vii'ens). 
Two specimens were examined ; one caught on 2nd February in the 
Firth of Forth, and the other on 11th March, east of May Island. 
The ovaries were pale and white. The particulars are as follows ; — 
Length of 
Fish 
(in inches). 
Weight 
of 
Fish. 
Weight of 
Ovaries 
(in grains). 
Weight of 
part taken 
(in grains). 
Number of 
Ova 
counted. 
Total 
Number 
of Ova 
in Ovaries. 
1 
2 
39| 
37 
22i lbs. 
17i u 
14,867 
11,914 
90 
20 
47,116 
8,824 
7,783,040 
6,256,466 
T 
