198 M. Coste on the Habits of some Marine Animals. 



his lobster reservoirs on the Quay of Concarneau, an observa- 

 tory, if I may be allowed to use the expression, for the investi- 

 gation of the living products of the sea, — an observatory in 

 which each species may be enclosed in a distinct cell, like the 

 domestic animals nourished in the stalls of our stables. 



A pump raises sea-water to the roof of this establishment, and 

 accumulates it in a basin of supply, from which it falls in a con- 

 tinuous cascade in artificial channels, of 50 centimetres in width, 

 arranged in gradations upon four stages, resembling, on a large 

 scale, the hatching apparatus of the College of France. They 

 are applied against the surrounding wall of the shed, and sup- 

 ported upon it by frameworks, occupying altogether a length of 

 about 80 metres, over the lobster vivaria. 



These artificial brooks, constructed of strong planks coated 

 internally with a layer of Horn an cement, are divided into ninety- 

 five cells by partitions furnished with gratings, which afford a 

 free passage to the current, without allowing the imprisoned 

 species to communicate with each other. The greater part of 

 the species thus separated in these compartments receive their 

 nourishment like the terrestrial animals in our gardens of 

 acclimatation, and thrive under this treatment as well as if 

 they were in full liberty. They propagate there, and exhibit 

 all the marvels of their instincts. We may watch their copu- 

 lation, the deposition of their eggs, the development of their 

 embryos, and all their metamorphoses, with as much facility as 

 in the case of domestic animals ; so that in a laboratory of this 

 kind most of the animals inhabiting the sea might pass by turns 

 under the eyes of the naturalist who is engaged in studying the 

 laws of their organization, and reveal its mysteries to him. 



Natural history, as understood by Reaumur, Huber, and 

 Buffon, will find in this investigation, made in the midst of new 

 conditions, inexhaustible subjects for pictures ; and comparative 

 embryogeny will extend its domain into regions from which it 

 appeared to be interdicted. 



Whilst waiting until my assistant, M. Gerbe, has executed 

 the numerous plates belonging to our first investigations, and 

 until I can present in his name a great work, completed under 

 my directions, upon the metamorphoses of the Crustacea, the 

 Academy will allow me to inform it of some of the results of our 

 observations. I shall refer, in the first place, to the habits and 

 the domestication of a dozen species of marine fishes, the inves- 

 tigation of which has enabled us to prove the accuracy of the 

 acts related by the historians of antiquity. 



Amongst the species isolated and fed in the cells of the esta- 

 blishment, some, such as the Old Wife (Labrus bei*gylta, Asc), 

 the Fifteen-spined Stickleback {Gasterosteus Spinachia, Linn.), 



