226 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



placed on trays where tbey were kept fourteen hours with a loss of 50 

 13er cent. The remaining 25,000 impregnated eggs were put into the 

 river. 



The third lot of eggs were taken May 6, at 7 p. m. The fish was one- 

 third spent and weighed 11 pounds ; the number of eggs taken was 

 350,000. The hatchery was still not ready. Of these eggs 40,000 were 

 thrown away owing to the lack of milt. The remaining 310,000 well im- 

 pregnated were placed directly into the KoanoRe Eiver, as were the 

 others previously. 



On May 12 the fourth fish was taken, weighing 12 pounds and con- 

 taining 210,000 eggs. This fish seemed to be about half spent. While 

 these eggs were in excellent condition, 100,000 were ui)set by the care- 

 lessness of a negro boy who sat down upon a loose plank upon which 

 the pans were resting. Of this lot 30,000 were sent by express to the 

 central hatching station at Washington for examination, but they were 

 shipped at such an early stage that coagulation took place. Of this 

 lot 40,000 were placed in the hatching jars and successfullj' hatched 

 from the shells with a loss of 10 per cent, while the remaining few 

 thousands unaccounted for were lost in transferring from buckets to 

 jars, and in rough handling. 



The next fish taken was on May 16, its weight being 15 ijounds. A 

 considerable portion of this fish's ovaries was spent, but 60,000 eggs 

 were taken and impregnated and found to be in excellent condition. 

 They were placed in the jars and 42,000 young fish were successfully 

 hatched. Of this lot 25,000 were placed immediately in the Roanoke 

 Eiver at the hatchery, and 15,000 were reserved in the aquarium for 

 the inspection of visitors, who were numerous. Of this reserve lot of 

 15,000 about half ijerished while being kept in confinement, and the re- 

 mainder, 7,500, were placed in the river on the 17th of May. These eggs 

 hatched in thirty-six hours in a temperature of 70° to 72^ F. These 

 eggs hatched earlier by eight hours than I have found them to hatch iu- 

 previous years' experiments in like temperatures. 



The last fish was taken on May 17, at 6 p. m., and its weight was 14 

 pounds, the ovaries being tolerably full. Four hundred and twenty 

 thousand eggs were taken, which were successfully impregnated and in- 

 troduced into the jars; 210,000 fry were successfully hatched and re- 

 leased in the river, and 10,000 eggs which had been placed upon trays 

 were successfully hatched, the try being kept ujion trays about sixty 

 hours after hatching. 



R:^suMi;. — Number of fish from which eggs were taken, ; number of 

 eggs taken, 2,420,000; number of impregnated eggs placed in Roanoke 

 River before opening the hatchery, 1,535,000; number of eggs placed 

 in hatching jars, 520,000; number of fish hatched, 298,000; number of 

 fry actually planted, 280,500 ; percentage of hatching of eggs handled 

 in McDonald jars, upwards of 50. 



