[47] OYSTER AND MUSSEL INDUSTRIES. 871 
combined care of the commandant of the station at Granville and to the 
chief of the maritime service at Saint-Servan. 
I am, sire, with profound respect, Your Majesty’s very humble and 
very faithful servant, 
COSTE, 
Member of the Institute. 
After the above report was made, M. Levicaire was promoted to the 
grade of officer of the Legion of Honor, and M. Le Roy was appointed 
to the command of the Chamois, a steam-vessel which was placed at 
the orders of those superintending the restocking operations. M. Bi- 
daut, lieutenant of the Pluvier, was retained in command of that vessel. 
3.—REPORT TO HIS EXCELLENCY THE MINISTER OF MARINE, ON THE 
RESTOCKING OF THE BASIN OF ARCACHON. 
PARIS, November 9, 1859. 
Str: In the first edition of a work which is now being republished 
by order of the Emperor, I demonstrated five years ago, by the help ot 
numerous facts observed at Marennes, at Tremblade, and at the isle of 
Oléron, that oysters reproduced themselves in as great profusion in the 
claires, viviers, and étalages as in the open sea. 
At the sight of these revealed sources of wealth, I announced that, by 
means of appliances for collecting the seed, all the establishments organ- 
‘ ized along the coasts would soon be transformed into productive areas, 
where, without quitting the land, the coast inhabitants would have in 
their hands the inexhaustible treasure which science offers to labor; and 
I described the instruments which were to be used in securing the pos- 
session. 
I hope, sir, in the presence of the wonders accomplished under the eyes 
of the astonished inhabitants, henceforth anxious to take part in the 
prosecution of a work in which they, at first, had no confidence what- 
ever, that your excellency will permit me to restate here the means 
employed, so that it may again be shown that the most abstract know- 
ledge is everywhere the lever employed in attaining most wonderful re- 
sults, in the great workshop where the genius of man extends its em- 
pire over the world. As I said before: “‘ Each establishment, being thus 
transformed into a veritable manufactory where all the conditions are 
created by the genius of man, and varied at his pleasure, would at the 
same time answer the purpose of artificial beds and of appliances for 
perfecting the yield, giving in this manner constantly renewed products. 
The deposit of mud being the only obstacle to the preservation of the 
progeny of the oysters in the claires, there is a simple method of saving 
the spat, which is to place at a certain distance above the bottom, 
within their reach, and in such a position that the mud cannot interfere 
with them, solid bodies upon whose surface the oysters may cling. If 
