116 Fish-Hatching at Howzetoun. [Sess. 
When the eggs are ready to hatch, they are washed off the 
grilles on to the bottom of the hatching-box, and the grilles 
are then removed. Shortly after hatching, the young fish, or 
alevins as they may now be termed, congregate together 
against the sides and in the corners of the hatching-boxes. 
A close inspection discloses the fact that they are all lying 
with their heads together, and that the pectoral fins are 
moving very rapidly. Water currents are thus created, which 
convey fresh oxygen supplies to the closely crowded fish, and 
so their destruction from suffocation is prevented. This 
grouping of the alevins has very aptly been described by Sir 
J. R. Gibson Maitland as “a gigantic co-operative breathing 
association.” After the fry have herded together for a few 
weeks, they are seized with a roaming and inquisitive spirit. 
Very little attention beyond regulating the flow of water is 
required for the alevins. The boxes do not need much 
cleaning, as the fish in their incessant motion scour the 
bottom and keep it clean. 
As the young fish grow, the provision made by nature for 
their sustenance decreases, till a stage is reached when 
artificial feeding is absolutely necessary. The food in use 
is a paste made of eggs and a sort of mince, made from 
beef which has been pounded in a mortar and passed through 
a sieve. When feeding is about to take place, the paste is 
made into a fine vermicelli by being forced through a spoon 
formed of fine perforated zinc, and these fine paste-threads 
are then dropped into the hatching-boxes and greedily seized 
by the fry. After a fortnight’s feeding on this prepared food, | 
raw sheep’s liver, finely sieved, is added. Then horse flesh, 
very finely reduced, is substituted; and when the fry have 
become accustomed to this, they are transplanted to the 
ponds. 
After the fish are turned out into the ponds, they have to 
be taught to collect together for feeding. An attendant 
with a feeding spoon scatters a small quantity of prepared 
food over the deeper parts of the pond. As a little time 
elapses before it can reach the bottom, a scrimmage ensues 
among the fish in the immediate neighbourhood for the 
food. The commotion attracts others, and by repeating the 
dealing out of the food in small quantities, the fish are all 
