37 
NOTE on a LOBSTER-HATCHERY. 
By PRoFEssoR HERDMAN. 
At the end of the year, I visited the Lobster hatchery 
established recently by the Fishery Board for Scotland at 
Brodick, in the Island of Arran, and of which I had heard 
from Dr. Fulton, the Scientific Secretary to the Board. 
The shore between tide marks at the spot is rocky, and 
the hatchery is a very simple modification of a natural 
creek. The sides and floor of the creek have been to 
some extent levelled and smoothed, and a concrete sea- 
wall about two feet thick has been built at each end so as 
to make a rectangular vivarium about 60 ft. by 20. This 
is roofed in with galvanized wire netting of 14 inch mesh 
set in iron frames each 9 ft. by 18 in. At each extremity 
of the roof two adjacent frames are hinged so as to form 
doors which can be raised to give access to the interior. 
The depth is rather greater at the lower than at the upper 
end on account of the natural slope of the creek, but there 
is on the average about 5 ft. of water in the vivarium at 
low tide. The lower concrete wall is penetrated at its 
base by a 4 inch iron escape pipe, with a wooden plug: 
through this pipe the place can be emptied when required. 
On the floor of the vivarium are scattered some boul- 
ders and stones with growing sea-weed to afford shelter, 
and some large draining tiles have been found specially 
useful for this purpose, as the lobsters seem to like hiding 
in the cavities of the tiles. The lobsters live well, flourish, 
and reproduce in the vivarium, and they require no looking 
after except that a supply of food consisting of old fish—any 
