758 EEPORT UF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [18] 



until, the shell having formed and each succeeding ascent being less, 

 the embryo will be unable to overcome its own weight and will remain 

 at the bottom, attached and sure of life if the object be suitable, or 

 unattached and thus certain of a speedy demise. If I am correct in 

 this view, its importance is considerable, especially so to private oyster- 

 culturists. It is evident that if attachment may occur at any time 

 during the free swimming stage, " cultch " or collectors may be ex- 

 posed, indeed should be, not only at the bottom, but serieraUy to the 

 surface. The indications are that floating brush collectors, exposed as 

 closely as convenient without offering too great an obstacle to currents 

 and navigation, would give good results, and I regret that I was un- 

 able to make an experiment with them during the past summer. If 

 my view is correct, the oyster planters of Long Island Sound and Nar- 

 ragansett Bay lose annually a large number of oysters by neglecting 

 floating collectors. Many of them have tried one or two forms and 

 have met with varying degrees of success or failure, but I do not 

 know of any instance where the failure was due to inherent causes, 

 but rather to defective apparatus or methods. I do not wish to be un- 

 derstood as advocating brush collectors, as they may in certain localities 

 be unsuitable ; but I strongly advise floating collectors both for experi- 

 ment and practical work. 



Though my experiments during the past season have not been pro- 

 ductive of any positive results, I do not feel by any means discouraged 

 as to the eventual solution of the problem. It still seems possible to 

 artificially produce and raise an oyster, and in course of time I have no 

 doubt that the object I had in view will be achieved either by myself 

 or others. It may be attained by some happy, accidental discovery, or 

 by a patient investigation of all the conditions affecting and favoring 

 the life of the embryo oyster. Perhaps I and others have spent too 

 much time in attempting to reach the desired end at a single leap. It 

 is my own opinion that we have, and that the final result will only be 

 obtained after a careful and pains-taking series of experiments, which 

 wiU begin as nearly as possible, with the most important influence and 

 determine its extent before attempting to proceed further. In other 

 words I would recommend for the future that experimental work follow 

 a strictly scientific course ; that there be a massing of facts and a care- 

 ful digestion of them ; that the hypothesis based upon such digestion be 

 carefully followed out to its legitimate conclusion, and if ending adversely 

 a review of the ground be undertaken. The conditions affecting in more 

 or less degree the life of the oyster and embryo are fairly well known, 

 and in studying the extent of the influence of these various conditions 

 will be found the road which will lead to the attainment of the main 

 object. 



I have left until the last the mention of my experiment in placing 

 embryo oysters on the beds, not because it was not of some importance, 

 but because it was an incidental part of the work I had undertaken. 

 After the experience acquired at Beaufort, and after observing the dis- 



