814 EEPOET OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



All consignees were telegraphed from New York of the date of the 

 expected arrival of the ship, and the instructions were not to delivei? 

 unless called for. Through some, mistake, as I have since learned, Mr. 

 Buckland's agent arrived an hour after the ship had left, consequently 

 the quota for England was taken to Germany and added to the lot for 

 Herr Von Behr as per previous orders. 



At Bremerhaveu the eggs were met by Dr. O. Finsch, curator of the 

 Breimen Museum, on behalf of the Deutsche Fischerei Yerein; Director 

 Haack of the Imperial Fischerei at Hiiuingeu, Mr. Heck of the Amster- 

 dam Zoological Gardens, and Mr. Schreiber of Hameln on the Weser, 

 who took charge of their respective packages. By request I went with 

 Director Haack to Hiiuiugen, whither my own box was destined. 



At Bremerhaveu, when the crates were inverted, some decayed matter 

 was seen on one of them, which created an alarm, and several boxes 

 were opened. Of the lot for Amsterdam one box was quite warm, many 

 fish were hatched, but enough appeared good in it to warrant Mr. Heck 

 in taking them home. Mr. Schreiber reported his two boxes better, but 

 1 did not see them opened. 



Director Haack and self went to Hotel d'Europe with the two English" 

 crates, his own, and my box; found the two former entirely spoiled, hot 

 and steaming like a manure heap; thermometer showed 80^ in the pack- 

 ing. From his remaiuing crate we took 8,000 apparently gpod and put 

 them on a tray in my box. 



It is worthy of note that these apparently good ones were in all cases 

 in the corners of the boxes, where the density of the packing kept the 

 heat of the decaying central mass from them. • The following shows the 

 mortality in my box : 



Oct. 16 60 dead five days after repacking. 



19 42 dead eight days after repacking. 



22 37 dead eleven days after repacking. 



26 11 dead fifteen days after repacking, 



29 40 dead wlien put in troughs at Hliningen. 



190 

 In original package 206 



396 lost in 25,000 from California to Germany. 



Half of this lot were sent to the private fishery of Oberburgomeister 

 Carl Schuster, at Freiburg, two hours' ride by rail, where I saw them a 

 week afterward in most beautiful condition, just beginning to hatch. 



It is evident that the mode of packing in moss so tightly, while excel- 

 lent to keep out cisternal heat, is equally effectual in keeping in that 

 which is generated internally, or, as is commonly said, in excluding the 

 cold; and the decaying eggs caused the thermometer to record 80°, 

 while the air outside was not above 50c>. Again, the record above shows 

 that of ten frames lying close upon each other, while the top one was 42° 

 those near the bottom were 4 to 6 degrees warmer. This confirms the 



