Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-08-25
HOW EGGS ARE MEASURED
A SCALE DEVISED AT u. 9. FISH CON-
MISSION TELLS TO A NICELY.
Easy, Too, to Approximate Number of
Fish a Jar Will Hatch Out
The Systems in Vogue.

A hundred times q day on an average
the question Is asked by visitors at the
building Of the United States fish commits
sion: How in the world Is 1t possible to tell
with any degree of accuracy how many
eggs are placed in any given shipment or
are contained in the jars where they are
usually kept? And the questioner is gem
orally much surprised when he Is informed
that by means of a scale devised by one
OF the attaches Of the commission 1t Is
possible to tell to nicely just what is
desired to be known on the subject whether
1t be concerning the eggs Of the Spanish
mackerel, which are 50 small that stand
ard United States quart measure Of 5775
cubic inches, will contain 1857, 1913, or of
land-locked salmon, 3. 800 eggs of which will
fill a Similar measure
The measuring scale Is a light square made
OF wood. not so liable to break the lar as
metal. The long leg Of the square Is fif-
teen inches long, half an inch wide and q
quarter Of an inch thick The short Leo ia
OF the same breadth and thickness and half
the length The long leg is graduated to
read from the bottom upward. The first
grade is at a height corresponding to the
level attained in the jar by measured
halt pint OF water: the succeeding grades
are determined by the introduction of adj
aitionai half pints of water. All meas
urements made with q feed tuha in
place the water shut off and the eggs al
lowed to thoroughly settle
ne snort leg of the square is placed over
the top OF the Jar, the long leg hanging
down, and the scale read from tho noint
where the top layer Of eggs show, in the
jar. 1t Is possible to obtain by measure
meht an almost correct estimate OF the
number OF fish produced by jar of semi
buoyant eggs. Just before the time NJ
Matching all dead eggs are carefully drawn
OF 1t Is an ascertained fact that scarcely
any sem1-buoyant eggs die under proper
conditions after Matching out has com
mence1.
In connection with the scale there IA
used 5 jar which presents an easy, quick
ana safe means of ascertaining the knowl-
edse sought. The measurements in all
cases are made while the eggs are In the
jar, and with the cap screwed down. How
10 ascertain the number of eggs lost
or matched or are on hand is question
constantly arising. 1t would be cumber.
some and tedious were it compulsory to
open the jar and measure the eggs in a
graduate every time such Information was
needed.
most important one to the fish culturtst
ana yet. to judge from the various ways of
measuring eggs, 1t is one that has received
llttle attention. Every branch of trade has
a standard measure, but fish culture has
remained without standard or rational unit
each workman establishing for himself a
system of determination, and varying that
system from year to year as the exigencfes
OF the season demanded. There has not
only been want of harmony in the yari-
Gus sO-called measures used but the meas
ures themselves have lacked the elements
of reliability, being in many cases the most
arbitrary and irrational. The records of re-
suits of work in the earlier DAYS of fish
culture were but wild guessing, and, sad to
say. many records are yet made In the
same manner.
New and Better Way.
The practice of arriving at the number
of any given lot Of eggs by estimating each
parent fish to contain an unvaryng guam
tfty of eggs and multiplying this quantity
by the number Of females spawned has
Justly gone out of existence How various
and how far wide of the mark such esti-
mates were are shown by the following: One
fish culturist estimates a shad to contain
from 1000 to $4,000 eggs another puts the
number at $1,000 DIR. II. C. Yarrow esti-
Elates shad to contain from 100 600 to
10000 eggs. and an embryologist Of the
United states fish commission says female
OF the same species may have in her roes
at one time $4,000 ova in process of ma
turation
These statements are made to show the
absurdity Of the old method Of determine
ton. There Is no desire to attach odium to
any one, but the wish Is earnest to call the
attention Of all interested to the necessity
of some recognized standard Of measure
ment to be known and used by all fish Gull
turists. Not infrequently has it happened
that consignment of eggs, when esti-
mated by the recipient, has fallen short of
the invoiced number. and sometimes these
occurrences have led to accusations of
fraud. White fish and shad eggs. and pos
sfbly others, after several hours in the
packing crates, undergo a shrinkage
amounting to nearly II per cent of their
bulk. After being several hours In the jars,
the eggs reabsorb the water and resume
their normal size. But the main reason for
the discrepancy in the measurements at
the receiving and shipping points is to be
found In the want of harmony in the meth
DDS OF measuring.
.. Calculations Dimcult.
In many hatcheries, especially those hatch
ing heavy eggs, the system of determine
ton Is based on the diameter Of the egg
1t will be found very difficult to establish
by calculation based on the diameter q
standard for measuring eggs on trays and
the difficulty amounts to almost imposst-
biiity when II Is attempted In like manner
to determine the number Of eggs IN a given
bulk.
A system which Mr.. w. F. PAGE devised of
measuring fish eggs and fry Is applicable
to all classes of semi-buoyant and heavy
eggs. and Is, he believes, based upon ra-
tioEal principles. The basis Of this system
is the number of eggs in a standard quart
of the Emitted States (5775 cubic i,,chea,
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