BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 209 



Vol. Ill, Mo. 14. Washington, ©. C. Sept. 3, 1883. 



23.— A NEW FISH-HAT€HHVG APPARATUS.* 



By von LA VALETTE ST. GEORGE. 



The progress which has been made in the culture and care of fish in 

 our waters has caused the invention and application of many different 

 kinds of apparatus for the further development of artificially impreg- 

 nated eggs.t Much as they differ from each other in form, the most 

 important variation in their construction is this, that, in some, the water 

 which moistens the eggs (which are spread on a sieve-like frame) is 

 introduced from the top, and, in others, from the bottom. 



During an experience of more than twenty years I have tried all the 

 different apparatus which I could obtain, both old and new, and with 

 all of them — Jacobi's hatching-box, Coste's hatching-apparatus, Kuffer's 

 hatching-pot (which cannot be too highly recommended), and troughs 

 made of wood, sandstone, cement and granite — I have attained my ob- 

 ject, if the principal condition for successful hatching, a sufficient quan- 

 tity of clear water of the right temperature, was fulfilled ; although the 

 California principle of introducing the water from below, on which Von 

 dem Borne's and Eckardt's ingenious apparatus are based, may deserve 

 the preference. 



Aiming at the removal of some noticeable defects, caused by too 

 complicated a construction or unsuitable material, I constructed, two 

 years ago, after numerous experiments, a new hatching-apparatus, which 

 I have practically tested during the last two winters. The object which 

 I had in view was to obtain an apparatus as comprehensive, simple, and 

 handy as possible as to its form, and made of a material which would 

 not be affected by the hatching- water, and would not favor the injuri- 

 ous development of fungi. The form is, in its main features, that of the 

 " hatching-bucket," described in the circulars of the German Fishery 

 Association for 1879, p. 107, and the material used is faience. 



I shall give a brief description of this apparatus, which, in its con- 

 struction, offers no technical difficulties whatever, and which I hope will 

 not only prove useful to the practical pisciculturist but also prove a 

 valuable aid in the prosecution of embryological studies. 



* " Ein neuer Fisclibrutapparat," von v. la Valette St. George. Bonn, 1882. Trans- 

 lated from the German by Herman Jacobson. 



t Commencing with its number for October 15, 1881, the "Bayerisclie Fisclierei Zei- 

 tung" contains a long and highly valuable historical and critical article on " Hatch- 

 ing-apparatus for Salmonidie," &c, from the pen of one of our foremost pisciculturists, 

 Mr. F. Zenk, president of the Lower Francouia Fishery Association, in "Wurzburg. 



Bull. U. S. F. C, 83 14 



