Smyrna times., 1903-01-21
FISH SURGEON ilKE
S9NE FINE ,t8ATIJt
PERFOKNEG OPERATI0NS O> FISH WHICH
AXE USUALLY VERY SUCCESSFUL
Knives and Snears are Used md the Fish Ma,
be Keep bui OF Water from five TO Seyen
Minutes How MediciG.s are Given

The fish doctor, like the regular doc
tor. gives medicine. performs surgical
operations and supcrntends his pa
uentS' diet and environment. These
are the principal operations which he
performs: Trimming the fishs tail with
hsh shears when fungouS growths ell
large it; stripping the fish to remove
the eggs or milt that have not been
naturally deposited; eXcising with the
lance tumOrs, lacerated scales and
splinters of bone
Among the medicines that the fish
doctor gives are castor oil for swelling
of the swimming bladder and nux vom-
lea for debility and emaciation. This
specialist also presideS over the food
OF the fish, inSpects their food troughs
thoroughly and makes microscopic ex-
aminatiOns of their water to see that it
contains the proper life giving elements
in their due proportions. Regarding
these matters. which are as important
TO healthy as to sick fish, the leading
fish doctor of Philadelphia recently
said:
a food trough of enameled ware
that will not rust should be used for
fish. At the same time each day their
oatmeal should be put in this trough,
which should always be kept in the
same place, and as a consequence of
this treatment the fish will gather
around their trough at mealtime, which
they will inStinctively recognize, as
greedlly as hogs, burying their noses
in the food when it is set before them
and crowding and pushing one another
IN a healthy, ravenOus and hOglike
manner. The trough should be cleaned
once day lest it get sour, but the wa
ter of the fish should rarely be changed.
Even when it becomes foul smelling it
should only be changed gradually-a
quart a day, say-for to change it all
at once has the effect of terrible ex-
pOsure-is. indeed, the same as if you
should snatch a child from its warm
bed and lay it naked out of doors in the
cold night wind and snow"
1t is not the detention of fish from
their native element that makes fish
surgery difficult. for they can be kept
out of the water for five. six and sew
en- minutes without the slightest harm
to them, and there is no operation that
requires a longer space of time. But
what makes it difficult is the disincli-
nation of the flesh to heal after it has
been cut A wound to heal requires to
be dry. Nothing is more deleterious to
1t than any sort of moisture, and hence
the troubles of a fish wound bathed
and soaked in water all the time In
evitably, therefore. fish operations are
simple and slight.
One Of them is the trimming of tails
to unwieldiness by growths
Of fungus. In this work sharp shears,
with blades oddly curved-fish shears
are employed. The fish is lifted from |
the water and held head downward |
while its tail is being trimmed A dex-
ferrous operator gets through the work
in two or three minutes. There is no |
flow of blood and no gaping wound
that will not heal; henc, tail trimming
is in nine cases out of ten successful.
1t must be resOrted to often with jap
anese goldfish, for these costly and
graceful creatures, with their resem-
blance to strange golden flowers, have
tails bigger than their bodies and when
their tails, as frequently happens, be-
come affected with fungus, they are un-
able to swim well, and sometimes, in
deed, they drown. A fish browns"
when, floating with it's head |
out Of the water, it dies from asphyXia- |
ton.
The knife is used on fish to remove |
tumOrs or lacerated scales or spintered |
bones. which. uneXcised, would cause
the fshs death. Lacerations of the |
scales are only treated when they are |
so severe that the fish without treat |
ment would surely die. This operation |
is successful in about 20 per cent of the |
cases. The remaining 80 per cent die |
because their wounds do not heal.
Stripping is an operation resorted to |
when, in the breeding season, the fish, |
through some malady or other, does |
not deposit naturally its eggs or it's |
milt. The patient in this operation is |
held with the left hand while with the |
right firm pressure is eXerted along |
its sides from the breast down to the |
tail Stripping is the least dangerous |
Of all the operations in fish surgery.
Admirable results are obtained by |
fish with medicines. Castor oil,
.u2 Of the swimming bladder,
as a remedy that seldom fails. fish's
dose Of castor oil is one drop. diluted
slightly. The liquid may be admins
tered either with a spoon or with a
quill toOthpick. The process in each
case is similar The fish is held in an
erect position. its head well up. and the
drippings from the toothpick or the
contents OF the spoon are directed into
its mouth. Sometimes they flow forth
again through the gills, and in this
event the dose must be repeated.
A swollen swimming bladder is a
frequent and dangerous ailment of