-REPORT OF COMMISSIONERS OF INLAND FISHERIES. 47 
The Efficiency of the New Apparatus for Hatching Eggs. 
It was intended, during the past season, to obtain the newly- 
hatched fry from the Wood’s Hole hatching-station, but unfore- 
seen conditions made this impracticable, and an attempt was made 
to hatch the lobster eggs with the same apparatus which was 
constructed to rear the fry. Accordingly, female lobsters were 
obtained from Newport in the early part of June, and the eggs 
were combed off in the ordinary manner and placed in the stirring- 
bags. When the propellers were set in motion, these eggs were 
gently swirled about and hatched out into very beautiful young 
lobsters. The device is simple, effective, and could readily be 
installed at any place where the water was fairly quiet. The pro- 
portion of the young which were hatched, and their condition, was, 
I believe, as satisfactory as in the case of those hatched by the 
elaborate apparatus used at many stations. 
yeperiments in Fearing Lobsters Beyond the Fourth Stage. 
In addition to the problems stated on page 35 and dealt with in 
the previous chapters, there are two which pertain to the later 
development: First, is it possible to raise lobsters to maturity 
throughout the year in water which is so cold in the winter, is so 
fresh in the spring, and so warm in the summer as the more shal- 
low estuaries of Narragansett Bay; second, what is the rate of 
erowth and the conditions which influence it ? 
In the fall of 1900, about fifty lobsters which had been reared at 
the house-boat were put into a car which had gravel-stones in the 
bottom, galvanized screens at the sides, and a tight wooden cover. 
The car was lowered to the bottom of the channel, near Point 
wharf, at Wickford, in about ten feet of water, and left there over 
winter. In the latter part of December it was examined and sey- 
eral specimens taken out—the remainder being left and the car 
returned to the bottom. The temperature was very low at this 
time and it was necessary to break ice to reach the locality where 
the car had been left. The lobsters themselves were very sluggish 
