ROE, the feed or spawn of fish. That of the male fishes is usually distinguished by the name of soft roe, or milt; and that of the female, hard roe or spawn. So inconceivably numerous are these ovula or small eggs, that M. Petit found 342144 of them in a carp of 18 inches; but M. Lieuwenhoek found in a carp no more than 211,629. This last gentleman observes, that there are four times this number in a cod; and that a common one contains 9,344,000 eggs.
ROE
article · 455 chars · lineage ↗ · page image at NLS ↗