444 ANNUAL RECORD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



of tints, bright reddish spots developing all over the surface, 

 and imparting a very handsome appearance to the fish. 



The eggs were taken from the females before the end of No- 

 vember ; and, after being impregnated properly, were placed 

 in Mr. Atkins' hatching-house at Bucksport, to the number 

 of nearly 1,400,000. They were kept at Bucksport until Feb- 

 ruary, when they w^ere sufficiently far advanced to permit 

 their distribution. Mr. Atkins' operations having been pros- 

 ecuted partly at the expense of the United States appropria- 

 tion, and partly at that of several New England States, a di- 

 vision was made, and the share at the command of Professor 

 Baird, United States Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries, was 

 distributed among the New England States, New York, New 

 Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin, and 

 placed in hatching- houses in the several states, where the 

 process of development will be completed, a period of four 

 months usually elapsing between the first taking of the eggs 

 and the emergence of the young from its envelope. 



The salmon, after being treated at Mr. Atkins' establish- 

 ment, were allowed to go to the sea, care being taken to mark 

 each with a tag, so that, if again taken, it might be identified. 

 Although a passage-way was opened between the pond and 

 the river, about two hundred fish preferred to remain and 

 spend the winter in the pond ; and it was not until the early 

 part of March that they began to leave, going down into the 

 river, and thence, in all j^robability, into the sea. This fact 

 is in accordance with one that has recently been established 

 as characteristic of the American salmon namely, their tend- 

 ency to spend the winter in fresh -water ponds, and then re- 

 turn to the sea, coming back in a few months in good health 

 and viojor. 



MARKED SALMON ON THE AMERICAN COAST. 



In the operations on the part of the general government 

 and of the New England States for securing salmon spawn 

 for stocking our rivers and lakes, six hundred salmon were 

 caught and preserved alive in the summer of 1872 by Mr. 

 Charles G. Atkins at Bucksport, Maine. These were kept 

 penned up for several months until November, at which time 

 their eggs were ripe for treatment. But few of these fish 

 were injured in the operation, and the rest were returned 



