of the FisJiery Board for Scotland. 
331 
1 inch) and 5 inches, do not seem to be common in inshore waters. 
January, 6 in. ; February, Cf and 10| in. ; April, 6| in. ; May, 7, 7J, 
and 8| in. ; July, 6 and 9 in. ; August, 5|, 51, 6, 6J, 6|, 8J, 91, 
9f in. 
The lemon-dab is thus a very hardy form, living in the tanks under 
great disadvantages for ten or twelve days. This is further shown by 
the fact that a series placed in one of the glass cells (2 in. diam. x J in. 
deep) lived about six days, the only care taken being to add sea water to 
make up for the evaporation of that in the vessel. 
While it can be shown that there is little difficulty in hatching and pre- 
serving for a considerable time such young fishes under artificial circum- 
stances, it is a question whether expense would nob be saved by simply 
fertilising on a large scale, and placing the eggs in the bays where opera- 
tions were to be carried out. Under no artificial circumstances can the 
surroundings of such forms be so favourable as in the sea itself, whether 
we regard temperature, freedom from noxious impurities, and, most 
important of all, the obtaining of suitable nourishment on the absorp- 
tion of the yolk-sac. 
The adult fish is a comparatively valuable one, and in certain parts of 
the East Coast, as at St Andrews, is by no means common. The younger 
forms are, it is true, not unfrequently caught in the bay, but the adults 
haunt the grounds near the Bell Rock. A dozen may be caught on a 
single line baited with mussel in a night, while for months none will 
occur. Parnell states it is thought to be unwholesome in April, May, and 
June, but does not seem to connect this condition with the spawning 
season. No indication of this has been observed. 
11. On the Eggs and Early Stages of the Sand-Eels. 
For several years considerable attention has been paid at St Andrews 
to the reproduction of the sand-eel {Ammodytes tohianas). Similar inves- 
tigations were carried out elsewhere by the late esteemed Mr Duncan 
Matthews; and lately Mr W. L. Calderwood examined many at St 
Andrews without meeting with any having advanced ovaries. 
The eggs and larval forms of sand-eels, indeed, have hitherto for the 
most part escaped observation, and it would appear that there is some- 
thing peculiar in the habits of the adults and in the deposition of the 
ova. The latter have never been captured in the tow-nets, though these 
have often swept the bottom. They have also escaped notice in the 
dredge used on sandy ground, and in digging for the adults in the sand 
at extreme low water. 
Day observes that he found the ovaries of Ammodytes lanceolatus con- 
siderably developed in August, and concluded it spawns in autumn and 
winter. The reproductive organs of A. tohlanus were found by the same 
author far advanced in August and September, and he mentions that 
Thompson found some ready to deposit their spawn at the end of July ; 
but he remarks that in some places they do so during the winter. ' Couch 
* considered the end of December the most common period ; so probably 
' they continue spawning through the last few months of the year, dependent 
* on the temperature, becoming very poor in winter after breeding.' The 
words of Couch are : ' It is in this retreat, concealed and sheltered with 
* the sand of the shore, that this launce {A. tohianus) sheds its roe, the 
* grains being scattered as it passes on ; and in the west of the kingdom, at 
* least, this process is accomplished at about the shortest days of the year.' 
Mobius and Heincke give the spawning season of A. lanceolatus^ according 
