EXPERIMENTS IN PROPAGATING MAIFISCHE. 861 



Upward of 300 " maifische " were caught during our presence, but un- 

 fortunately there was among them not a single one ready to spawn, but 

 many with spoiled eggs ; so, in spite of all our efiforts, we could not ob- 

 tain any suitable eggs. 



On the 1st of June, at Seckenheim, I saw the first young " maifische" 

 which had slipped out of the eggs. I took 2 fish and 3 eggs in a glass 

 vessel to Heidelberg, where I placed them in a larger vessel, and observed, 

 to my greatest delight, that the fish came out of the eggs in an entirely 

 healthy condition ; the same was the case with 3 eggs of a pollard, 

 which had also been artificially impregnated. I was now in a position 

 to make a direct experiment as to how these young fish would stand the 

 journey. I was delighted to notice that I could warm them in tbe sun 

 to a temperature of 17° E. (70°. 25 F.), that tbey did not need any fresh 

 Neckar water till after two days, that in three days they had absorbed 

 the umbilical bag, and that they developed in a remartrable manner if 

 l^eckar water was given to them twice a day. I thus felt confident that 

 they would stand the journey. 



On the 2d of June I telegraphed to Chamberlain von Behr that the 

 young fish had left the eggs. I likewise telegraphed to his excellency 

 Minister von Kostitz, in Dresden, that 100,000 youug "maifische" would 

 arrive in that city at 8.21: a. m. on the 8th of June, and to Mayor Kiimpffe, 

 at Guben, that the same number would arrive there at 1.40 p. m. of the 

 same day. I asked that two fishermen might be at the Dresden depot 

 to receive the fish, as I had only one hour's time ; at Guben I asked for 

 a formal reception at the depot. 



On Sunday, the 3d of June, Peter Eohrmanu was going to make another 

 haul near Neckerhausen ; but this intention was frustrated by the very 

 sudden rising of the Neckar, which made its water quite muddy ; but, 

 as this only lasted a short time, our youug fish did not suffer at all 

 from it. 



On the 4th of June I made another excursion to Neckarhauseu, got a few 

 more " maifische," but none of them contained any good spawn. I then 

 had a few more caught, and placed them in a basin in the botanical gar- 

 den in Heidelberg, to see whether they would keep healthy, and perhaps 

 spawn there; two were dead the next morning and one the following 

 evening. The basin was intended for aquatic plants, and was arranged 

 in four separate divisions, producing many sharp corners, against which 

 the " maitische" had rubbed and thus hurt themselves. I spoke with Mr. 

 Pfitzer, professor of botany at the University at Heidelberg, about mak- 

 ing an artificial hatching-place for "maifische," which could be fed with 

 Neckar water, but owing to their peculiar circumstances he could give 

 me no encouragement. 



On Tuesday, the 5th of June, I visited Mr. Miiller, in Seckenheim, to 

 see in what condition the young "maitische" might be. The water was 

 still quite thick, but the fish were in a healthy condition. They could only 

 be seen when taken from the water with a small dipper. All the necessary 



