EXPORTATION OF FISHES AND HATCHING APPARATUS. 999 



Colonial Museum, Wellington, April 5, 1877. 



Dear Sir : I delayed answering your letter about the whitefish until 

 I could look into the matter of the size of the ova, as you seem to doubt 

 if they were whitefish. 



The only other lake fishes that breed in the fall are the lake herring, 

 the siseowet, and the great lake trout. The following is a table of the 

 relative sizes of their eggs : 



No. per lb. of fish. No. per oz. of ovary. 



Lake trout (^aimo, sp.) 700 300 



Siseowet [Salmo, sp.) , 700 376 



Lake herring {Argyrosomus) 8, 000 8, 000 



Whitefish {Coregonus) 12, 000 3, 000 



The Salmo quinnat has very large eggs, but they still average about 

 700 per pound weight of the fish. 



From these figures you will see that the egg of the whitefish is very 

 minute compared with that of salmon or trout, and that the size of the 

 egg bears a remote relation, if any, to the size of the fish. 



I am sorry for the failure that has occurred, but will send full informa- 

 tion on the subject by this mail to Professor Baird, and seek his advice. 



I will particularly request that an inquiry be made into the circum- 

 stances under which the ova were collected, so that any doubt may be 

 removed as to unfair or unskilled dealing in the matter. 



I have, &c., 



JAMES HECTOR. 

 S. C. Farr, Esq., ChristcJmrch. 



Canterbury Acclimatization Society, 



Christchurch, April 12, 1877. 



Dear Sir: I beg to acknowledge yours of the 5th instant, and to 

 thank you for the kind information therein contained. 



The doubt expressed by me in reference to the whitefish was some- 

 what encouraged by the box of ova received by the late curator, which 

 ■were a very large size, almost equal to the salmon ova received by the 

 society, and which Mr. Johnson stated to the present curator were the 

 ova of whitefish from America. 



Probably the inquiry you suggest will not be without its good results. 



I have, &c., 



S. C. FARR, 

 Honorary Secretary. 

 Dr. Hector, 



Colonial Museum, Wellington. 



Salmon Ponds, ^^ allacetown, March 10, 1877. 

 My Dear Sir : You will have already learned the bad state of the 

 •whitefish ova by telegram, but, as I believe you take a very great in- 



