91G REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [10] 
‘the zeal and activity displayed by the persons to whom he had given his 
instructions, were they competent to fill the place of the master? Sec- 
ondly, would it not have been preferable to choose as reproducers oysters 
from the Mediterranean, instead of the English oyster, whose fine quality 
and powers of rapid growth and fattening were incontestable, or the 
“¢ gravette” of Arcachon, with its fine shape and exquisite flavor? These 
oysters being accustomed to the waters of the ocean, which differ greatly 
both as regards saltness and temperature from those of the Mediterra- 
nean, it could not be expected that they would become acclimated with- 
out difficulty, and that the regularity with which reproduction took place 
in their native water would not be interrupted. The proof that these 
oysters were not suited to this place is the fact that no trace of them 
now remains there, while the indigenous kind, although few in numbers 
it is true, has survived. It has been objected that the varieties may 
have become confounded in one type, or, that those planted at Toulon 
may have become transformed and have acquired the character of the 
native oysters. 
The first objection is very easily refuted. It is probable that the for- 
eign variety may have undergone some modification, but this could not 
have been great enough to have deceived the experienced eye of a 
naturalist. 
From these facts it must not be inferred that the acclimation of foreign 
oysters is neither possible noredvantageous. Thereare precedents which 
demonstrate the contrary, and it will be sufficient to remind the reader 
that the American oyster (Ostrea virginiana) has prospered well in the 
basin of Arcachon; that the Portuguese oyster (Ostrea angulata) now 
reproduces naturally in the lower Gironde, just as it does at Arcachon, 
and that it does not suffer from its forced residence in the parks of Saint 
Vaast-la-Hougue, where the water is.very considerably colder than it is 
at the mouth of the Tage, of which this oyster is a native. In the third 
place, some indispensable precautions had been neglected. Thus, when 
the oysters were immersed, instead of being distributed and separated 
from one another, they were piled up in thick layers in the parks. It is 
known that the accumulation of too many individuals at one point is 
disastrous, unless the conditions for aerating the water are exceptionally 
favorable. The spawning oysters were also exposed to many other dan- 
gers. First, their habitation was soon invaded by mussels. This is by 
no means of rare occurrence; it takes place whenever the oyster and 
mussel are brought too near together. In the next place, on account of 
the ditficulty of keeping the place of experiment perfectly clean, owing 
to the absence of tides in the Mediterranean, the mud and sand, con- 
stantly kept in motion by the currents, accumulated by turns, and the 
reproducing oysters which suffered at the outset, as shown by the small 
development which they acquired in their parks, finally perished. It is 
the opinion that this experiment should not be considered as decisive 
of what can be done in oyster culture upon our southern shores. I think 
