THE HISTOKY OF FISH-CULTURE. 481 



lotte, one of tbe affluents of the Moselle. These results were too impor- 

 tant, and promised too great advantages in the economy of our waters, 

 not to draw the attention of the public, and even of the government. 

 In 1850 M. Milne-Edwards was officially charged by the minister of 

 agriculture to make sure of the accuracy of the facts ljublished, and to 

 ascertain their value. After having procured some information in En- 

 gland as to similar experiments, he went into the Vosges, and visited the 

 little establishment of the fishers of La Bresse. In a very remarkable ' 

 report,* he gave an account of the interesting labors of Eemy and 

 Gehin, and, while i)ointing out that the discovery of artificial fecunda- 

 tion dated back into the last century, he proclaimed that the fishermen 

 of La Bresse were the first to make application of it among us, and that 

 they have the merit of having thus created a new branch of industry in 

 France. The learned dean of the Faculty of Sciences of Paris resolved 

 upon a grand experiment of stocking the waters of France with fish 

 and regarded the success of it as i^robable if the processes were judi- 

 ciously arranged. It appeared to him that the best recompense which 

 the government could make to the fishermen of La Bresse would be to 

 give them the direction of the enterprise. The Philomatic Society did 

 not hesitate to put forth a similar wish by the organ of M. de Quatre- 

 fages.t 



The first notice of M. de Quatrefages, the promulgation of the success 

 obtained at La Bresse, and the favorable report of M. Milne-Edwards 

 gave a powerful impulse to pisciculture, and induced varied applications 

 of it on all sides. Under the influence of these first labors, commenced, 

 in many parts of France, the grand trial which is now going on. Its 

 value will not be fully known till it is completed ; but it is already suf- 

 ficiently advanced to permit us to hope that in the majority of cases the 

 method of artificial fecundation will produce important results. A cer- 

 tain number, both of eminent men of learning and of men of practical 

 skill, have taken part in this movement, which, far from slackening, 

 increases, on the contrary, and is extending daily more and more. Among 

 those who have contributed most by their writings or their practical 

 studies to the continually increasing i)rogress of pisciculture, besides 

 R6my and Gehin, besides M. Milne-Edwards and M. de Quatrefages, we 

 must mention M. Valenciennes, whose knowledge of ichthyology is so 

 extensive and profound ; M. Millet, inspector of waters and forests ; M. 

 Coste, professor in the college of France ; Messrs. Berthol and Detzem, 

 engineers of bridges and causeways 5 M. Paul Gervais,| at Montpel- 

 lier; M. J. Fonmet,§ at Lyons ; Mr. F. Defilippi,^ at Turin. 



M. Valenciennes 1 1 has, at least in part, realized the hope which has 



* Annales des Sciences Naturelles, third series, vol. xiv, p. 53, 1850. 

 t Journal of Practical Agriculture of June 5, 1852. 

 t Bulletin of the Society of Agriculture de I'Herault, July, 1852. 

 § Memoirs of the Society of Agriculture of Lyons, May, 1853. 

 H Importanza economica dei pesci e del Coro allevamento artificiale. 

 II Report on the Species of Fish in Prussia, vrhich might be imported aud acclimated 

 in the fresh waters of France. 

 S. Mis. 74 31 



