INTRODUCTION. xiii 



direct, to suit tlic time of year. The ova were therefore shipped to Melbourne, from whence 

 they were to be reshipped fco Tasmania. On February 25th, 1860, about thirty-thousand salmon 

 ova were deposited in the ship " Curling," loading at Liverpool, and about to sail for Melbourne. 

 The ova were placed in a swing tray with a small stream of water flowing from a tank on deck 

 through small tin pipes placed inside and around the ice house, which contained upwards of fifteen 

 tons of ice. Mr. Black, who went out in charge of the experiment, reported that the last of the 

 ova died in lat. 29° 52' S., and long. 27° 33' W., 65 days after having been put on board, all the 

 ice having melted and the temperature of the water having suddenly risen to 74°. 



The experiment was so far satisfactory, that it proved fish ova could be kept alive by means 

 of ice, whilst passing through the tropics. The result induced the Governments of Tasmania, 

 Victoria, and Southland New Zealand to vote money for a further experiment, which was under- 

 taken by Me. Youl. 



On March 4th, 1862, a vessel named " The beautiful Star," sailed from England conveying a 

 second quantity of ova, which were packed in the following manner. A wooden tank lined with 

 pure tin, and holding two hundred gallons, was built on the deck, and surrounded by a casing of 

 charcoal. Directly underneath it was the ice house, constructed to cany twenty-five tons : at the 

 bottom and nearly extending over the whole of it was placed a flat iron tank capable of con- 

 taining one hundred gallons, and connected with the upper tank by an iron pipe which passed 

 nearly through the centre of the ice. Other iron pipes conducted the water after it had been 

 cooled, to the vivarium in which were placed the ova. The water which flowed out of the vivarium 

 ran into a receiving tank, from which it was pumped back to the large tank upon deck. Conse- 

 quently the water flowed owing to its gravity from the large tank on deck, through the iron pipe 

 which went through the ice-house to the second pipe, from whence it went to the vivarium, the 

 pipes being regulated by stop-cocks, attached to flexible gutta-percha piping at their extremities, 

 and from fifty to two thousand gallons could be passed through at discretion during the twenty- 

 four hours. Every fourth day there was a complete change of water. In the vivarium were two 

 sets of trays, with gravel, on which were placed the ova, one in a gimbal frame hke that of a 

 ship's compass, the other fitted up in a frame resembling an ordinary swing tray, such as is used 

 on board ship, whilst each had a separate supply of water. 



It was in this vessel that the great discovery was made by Mr. Youl, second to nothing yet 

 known on the subject of the transport of fish ova. Having seen in Paris, moss used for packing 

 salmon ova, and in which they travelled short distances with perfect safety after their eyes were 

 developed, he packed some in moss within a wooden box, made of inch pine, and having its 

 sides perforated : this he deposited in the centre of the ice in the hopes that the extreme cold 

 might retard vivification, and the melting ice would permit sufficient water necessary to preserve 

 their vitality. The vessel met with contrary winds and misfortunes, and on May 8th, ] 862, the 

 ice was found to be very low, and the little box came to light, but in it were nineteen living ova. 



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