[67] OYSTER CULTURE. 819 
the cray-fish deposited upon wicker frames in hatching-ponds and con- 
stantly bathed with a stream of pure running water, may give birth to 
hundreds of little cray-fish, which need only to eat and grow, we cannot 
advise the same methods for the reproduction of the larger marine spe- 
cies, like the rock lobster and the common lobster. 
We have already said, and we repeat it now, that these species reproduce 
in the sea in sufficient quantities to supply all the demands of consumers, 
especially now that, by reason of the reports of M. Coste concerning 
these affairs, already cited, the laws governing the fishing of crustaceans 
have been modified in such a manner as to respect the females at the 
proper season, and prevent the destruction of young individuals until 
after they may have exercised, at least once, the function of reproduc- 
tion. Thanks to these modifications, while the numerous natural causes 
of destruction will always exist, as they have existed throughout all time, 
without having caused the disappearance of crustaceans from a single 
point of our coast, it is more than probable that the preservation of these 
species is henceforth assured. 
There is, moreover, no incentive, unless it may be from a purely scien- 
tific point of view, to undertake their artificial rearing, which would 
probably find a great obstacle in the vagrant and especially pelagic 
character of the germs of the lobster during their first transformations. 
But among those taken in the nets of the fishermen there are always a 
certain number which, although of regulation size, are so much smaller 
than the others that they sell in the market per dozen at the price of a 
single one of twice the length, and this price is far from being remunera- 
tive. Moreover, the fishing, formerly allowed throughout the entire 
year, is now prohibited during the three months of March, April, and 
May, the spawning period, and if the incessant demands of commerce 
would allow, it should be extended through the entire period when the 
sexes meet. 
There are, then, two important improvements to be introduced into the 
regulations concerning these crustaceans: first, to preserve alive those 
lobsters which are too small to sell profitably and keep them in suita- 
ble places for continuing their development, so that they can be sent 
to market when they are large enough to command a ready sale and 
a good price; second, to establish depots or live-ponds, in which, during 
the fishing seascn, all those individuals, over and above what are needed 
for immediate use, can be stored and held to supply the market during 
the period when no fishing is allowed. These improvements can be 
readily made, and far from being incompatible with the labors described 
in the preceding chapters, they can be readily carried on in connection 
with them. Previous to the labors of M. Coste in regard to these sub- 
jects, an ordinary fisherman, the Pilot Guillou, had succeeded in accli- 
mating crustaceans and marine fish in artificial basins of very limited 
extent. He very soon recognized that the restricted quarters and the 
care which these animals received were in nowise unfavorable to them; 
