PROCEEDINGS, APRIL. V 



insulated cases are not necessary, and that, with ordinary care and 

 watchfulness in keeping up a proper supply of ice, and not allowing 

 the ova to get frozen, are all that are required in the case of eyed 

 ova. The great thing to be observed is the proper impregnation of 

 the ova and careful hatching till it has arrived to the eyed state. 

 The tables of temperature may, and I hope will, lead, after careful 

 scrutiny, to important results in a scientific point of view. A large 

 quantity of ship's ice was used during the voyage, but only for the 

 purpose of packing and filling in doors, casements of chamber, etc., 

 but all from the water of which the ova was to be ted was Wenham 

 Lake ice, of which I brought with me from London four tons. I also 

 used one ton in Ireland and between that and London. On the 10th 

 April, finding the ova in such a forward state of development, I 

 determined to try the experiment of hatching a few on board. The 

 commander kindly gave me the use of a spare cabin, and in this I 

 erected a temporary hatchery. My appliances were not of a first-class 

 order. My hatching box consisted of a portion of an old tobacco 

 box, which I had emptied, and got cut in two by the engineer, and a 

 lip soldered on it. My water holder consisted of a common oil can 

 inverted with a pipe and a tap in the neck to allow the water to run 

 into the tobacco box. The water was obtained from a breaker lying 

 in one of the ships boats on deck, and which had been brought on 

 board at Plymouth exactly one month previously, and was thick with 

 sediment, and lastly I got a foot bath to receive the water as it flowed 

 trom the hatchery. These were my materials for making a most 

 important experiment. I never had much of a faint heart, but I could 

 not help feeling I was working under great difficulties, but I remem- 

 bered the expression of our immortal poet — "Never say fail," and to 

 work I went. I lifted with a teaspoon from one of the trays out ot 

 the refrigerating case, which then stood at 34 degrees, 43 ova, and 

 placed them in my new hatchery in the cabin, which then stood at 

 55^deg. Next morning the water was up to 60deg., and on the 

 13th at 1 o'clock I had the gratification of seeing one fish 

 swimming about and another just coming out of the shell. 

 The temperature of the air and water in the cabin then stood at 

 60deg. The fish were actually hatched out under all the difficulties 

 I have mentioned, and in addition a great rolling of the vessel, 

 in 74 hours. On the 15th we had a stiff breeze and a high sea, 

 which caused the vessel to roll very much, disturbing the ova, tossing 

 them about from end to end of the vessel in which they were in such a 

 manner that I felt assured all would be killed, but the only effect it had 

 was that several of the young fisli partly out of the shell had been 

 apparently strangulated. Whether this was caused by the rolling of 

 the ship or the great sediment in the water I could not tell, but before I 

 left the ship every ovum of the 43 promiscuously taken from the trays 

 had hatched out either fully or in part, and I left the living fish with 

 the commander to be carried to New Zealand, and thence, if possible, 

 again to London, I look upon this experiment as valuable to show that 

 there is little or no danger in removing ova when hatched for a certain 

 time from a low to a very high temperature. One more experiment I 

 made with living salmon fry, and I will not detain you longer. I 

 brought 12 fry of a year old from the River B^oyle, in the county of 

 Londonderry, to try how far I could carry them safely. 1 had two 

 glass jars fitted into a case and placed in the cool chamber. In the one 

 jar I had water in which I had kept the fish in London, and in the 

 other water supplied to me from the ship. In the latter I placed five of 

 the fry, and next morning to my horror all were dead. The rest 

 continued alive and well, and fed daily on Hour and water rubbed in my 

 hand into little strips resembling worms until the 18th inst., wlien we 

 were in latitude 17deg. N., when six out of the seven died. I had been 



