BY P. S. SEAGER. 5 



T.'ie idea of the iutroduction of living salmon was fetill promi- 

 nent, as the committee state in tlie first paragraph of tlieir' 

 report " that tlie mere introduction of spawn, even though 

 properly fecundated and in a state of vitality, ought not of 

 itself to entitle the person introducing it to any portion of the 

 reward." Members of this committee lived to learn that the 

 most successful means of conveying salmon to distant parts is 

 by means of spawn, and that the introduction of living iish as 

 then strongly advocated at the time proved to be a failure. This 

 committee also advocated the use of ice to regulate temperature 

 during the voyage, and they recommended tlie construction of 

 breeding ponds, which recommendation was afterwards carried 

 out. 



Sir Thomas Brady has, however, recently demonstrated the 

 possibility of carrying live salmon to the colonies by success- 

 fully conveying some fish, tn^elve months old, to the south of 

 the line, where their deaths were caused by improper food. 



The next experiment was made in ISGO through the efforts 

 of a body of colonists then in England, known as the Austra- 

 lian Association — amongst whom was Mr. Edward Wilson, 

 President of the A'iotorian Acclimatisation Society, — working 

 under the guidance of j\[r. James Arndel Youl, who from this 

 date was closely associated with every succeeding shipment of 

 ova from England to Australia and ISTew Zealand, with, I 

 believe, one exception only, and who has displayed the inosf; 

 praiseworthy zeal and self-denial in his efforts. It is said that 

 Mr. Youl's attention was drawn to this work by the experi- 

 ment of Mr. Boccius, and tliat in the year 1854 he commenced 

 to study the artificial propagation of salmon and transport of 

 their ova. The association raised by subscription a sum of 

 £000, and the experiment made under their management cost 

 nearly that amount. The vessel selected for the experiment 

 was the S. Curling, which sailed from Liverpool for ]\[clbourno 

 on 25th February, ISGO, with 30,000 salmon ova, collected by- 

 Mr. R. Ramsbottom, from the River Dovey, in AV'ales. The 

 shipment was under the care of ]\[r. Alexander ]ilack. The 

 apparatus consisted of a supply tank on deck of 200 gallons 

 water, the water being conveyed from this tank by means of a 

 |in. pure block-tin pipe, which passed through the deck into 

 an ice-house containing, when the vessel sailed, lo tons AVeuliam 

 Lake ice ; tlie pipe was taken twice round this house, a length 

 of pipe of from 80 to 100ft., when it found its exit into the 

 vessels fur the ova, which comprised a stout framework Ift. 

 square, surroiinded on all sides by a continuous wooden trough, 

 1ft. wide, Gin. deep, lined with pure block tin, with stops at 

 intervals to divide and regulate the depth of water, the steps 

 acting as falls for tiie purpose of aeration, and a further fall of 

 1ft. from the upper series of troughs to the lower was made to 



