XX EEPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



tation of the Vereln to the Gerinau government, it had been decided 

 that 250,000 eggs should be presented to the United States at the proper 

 time, all packed and ready for transmission, provided I would agree to 

 have them transported to a point of shipment under the care of an ex- 

 perienced operator. To this, of course, I gladly agreed, and named Mr. 

 Eudolph Hessel, of Offeuburg, an eminent fish-culturist and highly 

 esteemed correspondent, from whom I had already derived much valuable 

 information, to take charge of that duty. Articles by this gentleman 

 upon the salmon of the Danube River, {Salmo hucho,) the breeding of the 

 cyprinoid tishes, &c., will be found in the appendix to his report.* 



The following letters on this subject were received from the authori- 

 ties iu Germany : 



[Translation.] 



Bureau of the Deutsche Fischerei-Verein, 



Berlin, June 11, 1872. 

 In consequence of your letter of the 15th of May, addressed to Professor Peters, of 

 tliis city, iu refereuce to the acquisition of salniou-eogs for your Governuient, we have 

 ai)pliedto the superintendent of the tish-cultnre establishment at Hiiningiiu, andhave 

 received his reply, of which we inclose a copy. 



Placing you thus in possession of the facts in the case, we beg that you will favor us 

 as speedily as possible with a reply as to whether your Government is ready to assume 



the cost of the transportation of 250,000 salmon-eggs. 



MANARD. 

 Dr. Spencer F. Baird, Washington. 



[Translation.] 



HtJNiNGEN, June 7, 1872. 



On receipt of your letter I iilaced myself immediately in communication with the 

 circle president in refereuce to the conditions under which the establishment could 

 supply salmon-eggs to the American Government. On my proposition, it was agreed 

 that, in any event, the eggs should be furnished free of expense, although it is not 

 possible to supply " several millions." As the salmon-eggs are intended, in the ijrst 

 place, for Germany alone, the establishment could not pledge itself to supply more 

 than 250,000 at most, and this only on the condition that the necessary care be exer- 

 cised in their transportation. It is an indispensable condition that the eggs shall be 

 taken from here by a speci.al messenger to Havre or Cherbourg, so that they may be 

 secured against heating during the journey. Arrangements must also be made for 

 their preservation on the steamer in a uniformly cool place, and for their reception in 

 New York by an expert in such matters. The doublepackiug of a quarter of a million of 

 salmon-eggs will require at least thirty boxes, each weighing about fifteen pounds; so 

 that the Avhole will weigh nearly five hundred pounds and occupy a considerable 



space. 

 * HAACK, Director. 



Herr Manard. 



[Translation.] 



Imppuiial Fish-Breeding Institution, 

 Hilningen, near St. Louis, Alsace, August 13, 1872. 

 Honorable Sir : I have been asked by the Bureau of the German Fishery Association 

 to write directly to you in reference to the Rhine salmon-eggs to be sent to America. 



*The Salmon of the Danube, or the Hucho, {Salmo hucho,) and its Introduction to 

 American Waters, p. 161 ; also Method of Treating Adhesive Eggs of Certain Fishes in 

 Artificial Propagation. 



