BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 353 



and in Lower Bavaria in May, June, and July ; in the Tyrol in March, 

 April, May, and June, and in Switzerland in March and April. In the 

 rivers of Connecticut, where a lamprey fishery is still carried on, lam- 

 preys are reported to be abundant in May and June; and it is probable 

 that these months are included within the period ;of spawning. 



The artificial propagation of the lamprey was first successfully ac- 

 complished on the 24th day of May, 1879, when Herr M. Frauen, em- 

 ployed by the German Fishery Union in gathering sturgeon eggs in 

 Schleswig Holstein, fertilized the eggs of the river lamprey and placed 

 them in a breeding box. Between June 3 and June 1G many young- 

 were hatched out, and on July 17 the entire contents of the breeding- 

 box escaped.* 



As has already been stated, it requires four or five years for the 

 larval lamprey to undergo its metamorphoses and become capable of 

 reproducing its kind. The sea lamprey, P. marinus, often attain the 

 length of three feet, but those species which are found only in fresli 

 water are usually much smaller. 



The name Petromyzon signifies a " stone sucker," it being a common 

 habit of these animals to cling to stones and pebbles. In swift currents 

 this habit is of great importance to them, since it enables them to hold 

 their own when their swimming powers would often be severely taxed. 

 It is stated by careful observers that they have some way of transport- 

 ing stones, and that they build nests, or rather circular fortifications of 

 stone work around the crevices in which they lurk. As may be inferred 

 from what has already been said of the manner in which they prey upon 

 other fishes, lampreys are among the most troublesome enemies of many 

 large species. Giinther states that salmon have often been captured in 

 the middle courses of the Bhine with marine lampreys attached to them. 

 Milner, in his report on the Fisheries of the Great Lakes,f remarks : 



"A parasite that troubles the sturgeon is the lamprey eel, Petromyzon 

 argenteus Kirt., which is found very frequently attached to the skin. 

 The circular scars and raw sores sometimes found upon the sturgeon, 

 and attributed to this cause by the fishermen, are correctly accounted 

 for in this way. It is probable that their natural food is the slime or 

 mucus exuded in abundance from the pores, but they frequently retain 

 their hold upon a spot until they have eaten through to the flesh, and 

 deep ulcerous cavities occasionally result from the sore." 



The lamprey was formerly highly esteemed as an article of food, and 

 in early days is said to have constituted an important dish in certain 

 civic feasts of Europe. It was once the custom to drown lampreys in 

 wine and then to stew them. This process was supposed to impart a 

 higher flavor to the flesh. It is stated by LacepMe that King Henry I, 

 of England, came to an untimely end by too full a repast of lampreys. 

 At the present time in Germany and France they are cooked in earthen- 



*Circular der Deutscher Fisckerei Vereiu, 1879, pp. 135-136, 159. 

 t Keport of U. S. Fish Commission, Part II, 1874, p. 74. 



Bull. U. S. F. C, 82 23 May 4, 1883. 



