OYSTER-INDUSTRIES OF THE UNITED SEATES. 275 



vats npoii a bed of gravel, and supplied every morning and evening 

 with pure water from the sea, taken at some distance from the harbor ; 

 these vats being emptied after the water had remained about an hour 

 upon the shell-fish. These experiments gave the following results: 

 Shortly after the My as had been placed in the vats, they evidently began 

 to decline, and on the twelfth day there was not one alive. So far the 

 failure was almost complete. The Venus and the oysters, on the con- 

 trary, thrived so well, under this mode of treatment, that at the end of 

 a month they were in as good condition as on the first day, the mortality 

 among them having been insignificant and attributable to several ex- 

 traneous causes. During my absence Mr. Higgens, a planter and 

 dealer in oysters, cheerfully consented to continue these experiments, 

 and to keep me constantly informed of their results. 



Success with the oysters and the Venus inspired me with such confi- 

 dence that, on the 28th of May, I sent ten baskets of them by the 

 steamer Europa, which sailed from Boston. . 



Having been informed early in June, through a dispatch from the 

 admiral of the Konciere, that your excellency had extended the time of 

 my commission, I made arrangements for continuing the transportation. 



On the 10th of June the captain of the vessel from Selva, in com- 

 mand of the frigate la Bellone, consented to take to France some oys- 

 ters and some of the Venus, as well as about forty fresh-water turtles, 

 which I sent to M. Coste as specimens of the American species. Having 

 been convinced by some new experiments, undertaken on the shore 

 of Long Island, that it was possible to keep Myas alive out of their 

 native element for twenty days, even in the warm season, I sent, on 

 the 18th of July, 800 of these mollusks by the Europa, with six baskets 

 of oysters, gathered in Delaware Bay. The Myas, buried in cases, filled 

 with sand, as in their natural beds, were supplied several times a day 

 during the passage with salt-water, and I have since learned that 400 

 of them reached Saint Waast alive. 



On the 29th of July the Persia carried over 2,000 of the Venus ; and 

 on the 10th of August I put on board the Australia thirty fresh-water 

 turtles ; while, on the 3d and 10th of September, I dispatched by the 

 English steamers several thousand mollusks. I have learned, since my 

 return to Havre, that these various transportations were not equally sue- 

 cessful. Of thirty thousand shell-fish sent from America, including 

 those I brought with me, and others constantly arriving, we can only 

 count upon about a third. It is greatly to be regretted that so large a 

 number failed to survive the perils of the passage; but it is not surpris- 

 ing when we remember that I was obliged to confide them to the care 

 of persons having at the most only a moderate interest in their preser- 

 vation. I sent on board the vessels with each lot written instructions 

 as to their management; but I have every reason to believe that these 

 were not carefully observed by the subordinate agents intrusted with 

 their execution. As I have mentioned before to your excellency, nothing 



