MILNER FISHERIES OF THE GREAT LAKES. 21> 



throngli several changes of warm water. Pieces were then fitted to the 

 bottom of the cups, and while standing in a pan of water, a half table- 

 spoonful of eggs was poured in, a thin slice of sponge, fitting the inside 

 of the cup, laid lightly over the eggs, and the remainder of the spoon- 

 ful poured in, when a third piece of sponge v»'as put over them to cover 

 them. The tray, with the cups, was then put into the inner can, which 

 was placed withiu the second can, with one inch of sawdust filling the 

 vacant space on the sides, bottom, and top. A piece of burlaps was 

 tied over the top, and the whole placed upon the springs, within the 

 packing-box, and the lid fastened down. The packing-box had two half- 

 inch holes bored near the bottom to admit the air. The filling of saw- 

 dust was considered as a necessary safeguard against the cold weather 

 of the time. 



The case was put in charge of the baggage-master, and I accompa- 

 nied it as far as Omaha, Xeb., attending' to its transfer from one 

 train to another, and regulating its position in the car. At Omaha it 

 was given in charge of the express company, and the messenger in- 

 structed as to the effect of heat and cold upon the eggs, and a letter 

 containing full instructions sent with the box to be delivered to the mes- 

 senger at Ogden, where the box was transferred to his care, there being 

 no further change of messenger between that and San Francisco, Cal. 

 On two sides of the box, in distinct letters, was printed the caution, 

 " Fish-eggs ; must not be jolted or allowed to freeze." 



The weather continued cold throughout the time the eggs were on the 

 way, and they arrived at their destination in very bad condition. Mr. 

 Stone attributed the damage to the use of sponge, and the sawdust- 

 l)acking i^reventiug ventilation. Mr. Rudolph Hessel, an experienced 

 fish-culturistof Oflfenburg, Germany, while visiting Washington, informed 

 me that he had used sponge for packing eggs for long distances with en- 

 tire success. The lack of ventilation is a more probable cause, though 

 the description given by Mr. Buckland of the method of packing the 

 eggs received from Seth Green's establishment in January, 1870, was 

 similar in the fact that the cups containing the moss and eggs were buried 

 in the sawdust. A small quantity, received from Mr. N. W. Clark, at the 

 Smithsonian Institute this winter, was packed in the same manner, using^ 

 sponge and burying the cups in a pail of sawdust, and they were found 

 to be all alive after a fifty hours' journey. 



The necessity of a certain supply of oxygen to the eggs has been very 

 thoroughly proven by the researches of W. H. Ransom, M. D., of Xottiug- 

 ham, England, published in the first volume of the Journal of Anatomy 

 and Physiology. The ex^^eriments were made while investigating the 

 nature of the rhythmic contractions of the yelk, known to occur in the 

 living eggs of fishes. Among several experiments, in which, by inge- 

 nious methods, the oxygen of the atmosphere was kept from contact with 

 the eggs, those of the stickleback being employed, he relates as fol- 

 lows : 



