FISHERY PUBLICATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES. 243 
by the most sceptical fishermen are not in themselves conclusive. 
We find that the cod is the most important single species in the 
New England fisheries, the total catch in 1889 amounting to 
97 million pounds, valued at 2} million dollars. But it appears that 
this fishery is carried on chiefly on the banks east of 65° W. long. 
It might be suggested that the inshore cod in question migrated in 
from the banks, but on the whole the probability seems to be on the 
side of the Commission, which regards these cod as its own pro- 
duction. It is interesting to ascertain the extent of the propagation 
of cod in the years preceding 1890. The number of fry produced 
were— 
Totals. 
1889. Gloucester . . 11,000,000 
Wood’s Holl . 8,000,000 
——§ 19,000,000. 
1888. Gloucester . : 627,040 
Wood’s Holl . 8,843,600 
9,470,640. 
1887. : 
1886. ; Wood’s Holl . 20,000,000 20,000,000. 
The number of cod eggs hatched increased in 1890 and 1891; in 
the former year it was 21 millions, in the latter 55 millions. The 
pelagic eggs of marine fishes are still hatched by the officers of the 
Commission in the Chester tidal boxes and the improved McDonald 
tidal boxes. No mention is made of any attempt to test the 
efficiency of apparatus which has been found so much more satisfac- 
tory in Europe,—for instance, the Dannevig hatching box, or the 
hatching jars arranged on the plan used in our Laboratory at Ply- 
mouth. At Wood’s Holl lobster eggs were stripped from the berried 
females, and also treated in the Chester and McDonald apparatus 
and in the universal hatching jar, the total number taken being 
8,317,600, and the production of fry 54 per cent. The fry were 
released when two to four days old, except a few which were kept 
in the jars for six weeks. A fuller account of this experiment is 
contained in Mr, Rathbun’s report on Food-fishes and Fishing 
Grounds, from which it appears that the Americans have found the 
problem of rearing lobster larvee as difficult as we at Plymouth. It 
is stated that in none of the trials did more than a small percentage 
survive for any considerable length of time. Specimens about one 
month old were taken at the surface in Wood’s Holl Harbour, how 
many or how frequently is not stated ; in England the capture of pelagic 
lobsters is very rare. ‘The stomachs of these specimens contained frag- 
ments of Copepods and of the larval stages of crabs, so that their natural 
food appeared to be other pelagic crustacea, As at Plymouth, it was 
