890 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [6] ~ 
left bare at each low tide, and on which it has never existed before. 
He was struck with the facilities thus offered for the obtaining of arti- 
ficial supplies of spat. He established at Saint-Servan, in the port of 
Solidor, a sort of experimental park, and commenced a series of experi- 
ments to discover means of fixing the spat emitted from the oysters. 
In the year 1855 he announced to the minister that the question of 
artificial reproduction was for him definitely settled in the affirmative. 
In 1858 he asked to be authorized to try in one of the parks at Cancale 
the system of collecting spat which he had decided upon. It was a sort 
of floor formed of boards from 15 to 18 centimeters wide (6 to 7 inches), 
upheld by stakes and placed 20 centimeters (8 inches) above the oysters. 
Having seen with their own eyes the results of this system, the parkers 
of Cancale did not hesitate to give it a trial at their own expense dur- 
ing the summer of 1859. The experiment was crowned with complete 
success. In the month of October of the same year, M. De Bon trans- 
mitted to the minister, as a specimen, several boards covered with spat, 
some from the beds of Cancale and some from the parks of the Rance. 
His experiments had, moreover, become famous. The prefect of the 
island of Vilaine had come to pay a visit to the park and had compre- 
hended the scope of the discovery. In pursuance of his advice, M. De 
Bon sent specimens of the oysters obtained by the new method to a 
local exhibition which was held at Rennes in August, 1859. These 
specimens, which were accompanied with a description, attracted much 
attention, and the jury of the exhibition conferred a silver medal upon 
the inventor. 
M. Coste’s share in the introduction of the new industry.— Notwithstand- 
ing these satisfactory results, oyster culture would undoubtedly have 
found difficulty in overcoming the obstacles which prejudice always 
’ places in the way of new advances, in attracting public attention and 
subsequently in securing the costly and persevering efforts necessary to 
insure its speedy development, had it continued as a purely administra- 
tive work, subject to the conditions of prudence and wise reserve which 
are always imposed upon responsible functionaries. It found in M. Coste 
a bold champion, who brought to its service his reputation as a man of 
, Science, his talent as a propagandist, and the open support of the chief 
magistrate of the nation, which he had gained by the eloquent ardor of his 
convictions. Made proficient for this work by reason of his studies on 
fish-culture, M. Coste had become much impressed by what he saw in 
Italy, in the parks of Lake Fusaro. He at once conceived the idea of 
transporting to France the industry which flourished so obscurely near 
the guif of Naples. In the report of his explorations, made January 1, 
1855, to the minister of agriculture and commerce, he expressed a desire 
that the same processes might be tried in the salt ponds of the south of 
France, and also applied to the natural oyster-beds. He proposed to 
let down over these oyster-beds in the spawning season large wooden 
