The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1903-01-03
THE FISH SURGEON.
OPERATIONS WHICH rs egRroaMs
UPON HIS PATIENTS.

tttN ttA-tNASS.
ISnife and shears Are Used, ana the
Fish May Ne Kept out OF water.
Prom Five 10 seven aIInutes-Hoxv
Medicines Are Administered.
The fish doctor, Ike the regular doc
tor, gives medicine, performs surgical
operations and superintends his pa
tents diet and environment. These
are the principal operations which he
performs: Trimming the fsh's tai with
fish shears when fungous growths en-
large 1t; stripping the fish to remove
the eggs or niilt that have not been
naturally deposited; exclsing with the,
lance Itumors. lacerated scales and
splinters OF bone.
Among the medicines that the fish
doctor gives ure castor oil for swelling
of the swimming bladder and nux vom-
lea for debility and emaeiation. This
specialist also presIdesHoyer the food
OF the fish, ipspects their food troughs
thoroughly and makes microscopic ex.
aminations of their wnter to see that 1t
contains the proper life giving clements
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 VIII 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 q consequence of
this treatment the fish will gather
around their trough at mealtime, which
they will instinctively recognize, as
greediiy as hogs, burying their noses
In the food when 1t is set before them
and crowding and pushing one another
In healthy, rayenous and hoglile
manner. The trough should be cleaned
once day lest IT get sour, but the wa
4 ter Of the fish should rarely be changed.
Even when 1t becomes foul smelling It
should only be changed gradually-a
quart day, say-for to change 1t all
ut once has the effect of terrible ex-
| posure-is, indeed, the same as II you
| should snatch child from its warm
bed and lay II 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 longer space of time. But
what makes 1t difficult Is the disincli-
nation OF the flesh to heal after 1t has
been cut. A wound to heal requires to
be dry. Nothing is more deleterious to
Il - a.,
the troubles of fish wound bathed
and soaked III water all the time. In
eyitably, therefore. fish operations are
simple and slight.
One of them Is the trimming of tails
enlarged 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!1
ferrous operator gets through the work
In two or three minutes. There is no
dow OF blood and no gaping wound
1 that will not heal; hence tall trimming
is in nine cases out of ten successful
It 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, andwhen
their tails, us frequently happens. be-
come affected with fungus, they are I'M
| able to swim well. and sometimes, In
deed, they drown a fish browns
technically when, floating with its head
out of the water. 1t dies from asphyxia-
ton. E
The knife is used on fish to remove
tumors or lacerated scales or spllntered
bones, which, unexcIsed, would cause
the fish's death. Lacerations of the
scales are only treated when they are
SO severe that the fish without treat
ment wouid surely die. This operation
is successful in about 40 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 It's eggs or Its
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
dosing fish with medicines. Castor oil.
for swelling of the swimming bladder,
Is a remedy that seldom falls. A ,fst's
dose OF castor oil is one drop, diluted
slightly. The liquid may be admins
tered either with spoon or with
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 dow forth