858 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



created and the eggs were saved, as the little mud which remained 

 would be rubbed off by their rolling against each other in the box. I 

 also asked him to send word to me at Heidelberg as soon as any " mai- 

 fische" spawn had been hatched. 



On the 19th of May I returned to Seckenheim and found some boxes 

 which Mr. Miiller had placed in the Neckar, and in them some " mai- 

 fische -' eggs which had been impregnated before maturity, and with 

 which Mr. Miiller was making further experiments, with a view of elim- 

 inating bad eggs and of learning the general way of treating the eggs. 

 After many experiments it became quite clear to us how the " maifische" 

 eggs should bQ treated. We got another strong brush, and Mr. Miiller 

 made a spoon of wire gauze, with a wooden handle, with which the eggs 

 could easily be taken up ; the bad ones could then be picked out with a 

 pair of pincers and the good ones put in a special box by themselves, 

 so they could not suft'er from being mixed together. Thus all our 

 arrangements had been perfected, and nothing was wanting but the fish. 



On the 20th of May, Whitsunday, I went to Freiburg to see the mayor 

 of that city, Mr. Schuster ; from there I went to Basle on the following 

 day to see Mr.F.Glaser ; from there to Hiiningen, returning to Heidelberg 

 late at night. Mr. Schuster met me at the depot and showed me his ex- 

 cellent lish-hatchiug establishment, and we agreed as to the manner of 

 artificially hatching "maifische" eggs, which I said I would supply to 

 him, as I felt certain that the eggs packed according to my own fash- 

 ion would arrive in good condition. 



Early on the 21st of May I went to Basle, in order to have an interview 

 with Mr. Glaser, to whom a hatching-box had been sent. I found him 

 at one of his seven salmon-fisheries, about one-half (German) mile far- 

 ther up the river. The hatching-box had already arrived, and we quickly 

 nailed it together and placed it in a suitable location in a gentle current.' 

 Mr. Glaser told me that the "maifische" were so far entirely unfit for 

 spawning, and had, in fact, only come in his neighborhood a few days 

 ago, so that but few had been caught. He had placed two in a basin in 

 his garden, but one, the male, had died, and the female was living peace- 

 fully together with carp, gold-fish, &c., but seemed to be very restless. 

 Mr. Glaser intended to put another couple of "maifische" in another 

 basin, to put a male fish to the deserted female in the first basin, take 

 out the other fish, and let the spawning process go on undisturbedly. 

 He said that he moreover intended to get artificially impregnated eggs 

 in his salmon- fisheries and hatch them, letting me know the result. 

 Unfortunately I have so far not heard from him, although I have writ- 

 ten to him several times. 



From Basle I went to Hiiningen to see Director Haack and his exten- 

 sive hatching establishment, which has been greatly improved by him. 

 The most interesting part to me were the very ingenious arrangements 

 for raising the finer kind of food-fish, all the specimens showing an excel- 

 lent condition and healthy growth. Here one can see what may be done 



