40 



large fish-pond made of sheet piling, in Detroit River, at 

 the Fort Wayne tlshery, below the city of Detroit. This 

 pond was in clear water, in the current, and detached from 

 the shore, with soft bottom and of an average depth of 

 about six feet. The lish arrived in apparent good con- 

 dition. One small male, supposed to be about four years 

 old, was killed to ascertain the growth of the milt, which 

 was found to be well developed. A small platform or slide 

 was erected at one end of the pond, and a small seine was 

 used to handle the lish. They were carefully handled 

 twice a week for more than two months without any suc- 

 cess. No eggs were taken from them. 



Finally, uj^on opening a female, the eggs were appar- 

 ently blasted. The milt of the males also appeared to 

 have dried up or shrunk away. A male and a female were 

 left in the pond until October, and at that time, when 

 taken out, the female had shot her eggs, and appeared in 

 good shape, with new eggs forming. 



The facts stated in this paper as to the experiment in 

 hatching sturgeon eggs are principally derived from Mr. 

 Aaron W. Marks, the assistant suj^erintendent in charge 

 of the work. He was formerly a pupil of Seth Green, and 

 assisted him in about the year 1876 in, perhaps, the tirst 

 successful hatch of sturgeon in this country. That hatch 

 was made at New Hamburg, on the Hudson. The number 

 of eggs taken was about 200,000, and they were taken from a 

 single lish. The hatch was about 140,000. The manner of 

 treating the eggs was about the same described above, as 

 adopted at Algonac last year. 



Further experiments in this line will doubtless be made 

 in Michigan the coming season. 



