THE PROPAGATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE SHAD. 325 



temperature until the mercury stood at 73° in the atmosphere. This 

 seemed to lessen the vitality of the fish very fast, and at ten days out 

 from land and within three days of the end of the voyage the last fish 

 was dead. 



An apparatus wasxlevised by Mr. Mather with the intention of taking 

 a* quantity of partly-developed eggs, which would hatch when a few days 

 out from land, and thereby limit the period of time the living fish would 

 have to remain in the cans. 



This apparatus was a large can, with a capacity of about twenty-five 

 gallons; within it a cylinder having a wire-cloth bottom and a tight lid 

 was adjusted, and within the cylinder the eggs were to be put. The 

 cylinder had four arms soldered to it near the top, and the same number 

 near the bottom. The ends of these arms had a solid rubber ball in- 

 serted. The ends of the arms with the rubber surface rested against 

 the inside of the can, the friction sustaining the cylinder at any height 

 in the can desired. 



The plan was to fill the can to a convenient height with water, and it 

 was thought the jolting of the railway-trains and possibly the roll of the 

 steamer would be sufficient to give the eggs the necessary motion. 



When leaving the river a quantity of eggs was put into the cylinder, 

 but the wire-cloth used proved to be too coarse, and by the time the two 

 miles between the river and the depot had been traversed the eggs had 

 all worked through the meshes of the wire-cloth and were in the can 

 below. It was, of course, useless to take the can farther. 



It is due to those who had the experiment in charge to say that they 

 were called on for the undertaking suddenly and unexpectedly, and 

 that no time for experiment was afforded them before the start. 



Omitting the shipment to Europe, I am able to report a very general 

 success in the transfers of live shad. 



The longest trip, that to Texas, suffered a loss in the quantity started 

 with of 15 per cent. In most of the shipments the loss was very slight, 

 not more than one or two per cent. A slightly larger loss was reported 

 once or twice by men who had had little experience. 



A very general appreciation of the effort was displayed in the regions 

 benefited, and considerable enthusiasm shown wherever the people 

 were at all informed in the matter of fish culture. 



Tables are herewith appended showing the distribution of shad in 1874. 



