860 EEPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



egjjs out of tbe fish and impregnated tliem at a temperature of the air of 

 9c R. (520. 25 F.), the water temperature being 11° R. (5Co. 75 F.) The 

 eggs were nearly all in excellent condition ; about fifty or sixty thousand 

 were put in the box, and the few bad ones were picked out by means 

 of Miiller's gauze spoon, and everything passed off successfully. Through 

 our little microscope we could distinctly watch the process of impreg- 

 nation. 



On Thursday, the 24th of May, I was again in Seckenheim, and con- 

 vinced myself of the healthy further development of the eggs. I now 

 resolved to make experiments in transporting the impregnated eggs, 

 and believing that the third day after impregnation would be the most 

 suitable time for this, I made all the necessary arrangements and wrote 

 to Mr. Von Behr in Schmoldow, to Mayor Schuster in Freiburg, and to 

 the superintendent of my own establishment at Liibbinchen. My letters 

 contained the following: "On Saturday, the 2Gth of May, I shall send 

 to your address by mail a small number of impregnated ' maifische ' eggs, 

 and would ask you to let me know the number of good and bad eggs 

 and of young fish." In Schmoldow the majority of the eggs arrived on 

 the third day in good condition; of 894 eggs sent to Liibbinchen, G94 

 were in good condition and 200 were spoiled ; in Freiburg, where the 

 eggs arrived the next day^, only 50 eggs proved good after they had been 

 placed in a box. Mr. Miiller took further care of the eggs, and was all 

 the time on the lookout for more spawuers, while I, on the 26th of May, 

 once more went to Neuendorf to see Mr. Joseph Glockner and ascertain 

 whether there were any " maifische " in the Rhine. The " maifische " had 

 unfortunately gone, and none were caught. Returning to Mr. Miiller, 

 on the 27th of May, I found about 150,000 eggs all in excellent condition, 

 which had been impregnated the day before my arrival. There were 

 among this number scarcely any unripe, spoiled, or unimpreguated eggs. 

 The first eggs of the 23d of May had already far advanced in their embry- 

 onic development, so that the shape of the fish could be distinguished. 



On the 2Sth of May, another batch of 100,000 eggs were artificially 

 impregnated, but among these a number of white, i. <?., spoiled eggs 

 showed immediately; these were picked out on the following day, and 

 the development went on in its normal course. On the 29th of May the 

 fishermen caught only 26 " maifische," and on the 30th only 11, so that 

 the association dissolved. 



As I had learned that the Heidelberg fishermen, forming an association 

 of 12 members, Mr. Peter Rohrmann being president, had, on the 28th 

 of May, caught upward of 400 "maifische" at the fish-weir near Neck- 

 arhausen, and they were going to fish again on the 31st of May, I made 

 arrangements with Mr. Rohrmann, at Heidelberg, to leave at 5 a. m. on 

 the 31st for Neckargemiiud, to go from there to ISTeckarsteinach, and 

 witness the fishing from one of the fishing-boats. I committed the care 

 of the eggs to Mr. Rautelder, a gentleman eminently fitted for this duty, 

 and left Heidelberg, accompanied by Mr. Miiller, in a pouring rain. 



