﻿.[3] 
  A 
  SYSTEM 
  OF 
  OYSTER 
  CULTURE. 
  383 
  

  

  lectors, 
  such 
  as 
  brush, 
  tiles, 
  slates, 
  in 
  their 
  various 
  modes 
  of 
  utilization, 
  

   are 
  too 
  expensive 
  and 
  give 
  a 
  too 
  inconsiderable 
  surface 
  of 
  attachment 
  to 
  

   justify 
  the 
  outlay 
  incurred 
  in 
  their 
  construction 
  as 
  practiced 
  in 
  Europe. 
  

   The 
  methods 
  which 
  make 
  tiles 
  available 
  abroad 
  are 
  not 
  the 
  methods 
  

   which 
  will 
  justify 
  their 
  use 
  in 
  America. 
  In 
  Europe 
  labor 
  is 
  cheap, 
  and 
  

   oysters 
  are 
  so 
  valuable 
  that 
  they 
  are 
  a 
  luxury 
  to 
  be 
  enjoyed 
  only 
  by 
  the 
  

   wealthier 
  classes. 
  Not 
  so 
  in 
  the 
  United 
  States, 
  where 
  the 
  middle 
  classes 
  

   along 
  our 
  eastern 
  seaboard 
  can 
  consume 
  the 
  luscious 
  Ostrea 
  virginica 
  as 
  

   part 
  of 
  their 
  every-day 
  fare 
  without 
  feeling 
  that 
  they 
  are 
  living 
  extrav- 
  

   agantly. 
  

  

  Other 
  investigators 
  besides 
  the 
  writer 
  have 
  sought 
  to 
  develop 
  some 
  

   method 
  of 
  artificial 
  culture 
  for 
  the 
  American 
  oyster. 
  Foremost 
  amongst 
  

   these 
  must 
  be 
  mentioned 
  Prof. 
  W. 
  K. 
  Brooks, 
  of 
  Johns 
  Hopkins 
  Uni- 
  

   versity, 
  who, 
  in 
  1878 
  and 
  1879, 
  for 
  the 
  first 
  time 
  investigated 
  the 
  devel- 
  

   opment 
  of 
  our 
  American 
  species, 
  using 
  artificially 
  fertilized 
  eggs 
  for 
  the 
  

   purpose. 
  Later, 
  Lieut. 
  Francis 
  Winslow, 
  U. 
  S. 
  N., 
  associated 
  himself 
  

   with 
  Professor 
  Brooks 
  at 
  Fort 
  Wool, 
  and 
  actually 
  operated 
  two 
  differ- 
  

   ent 
  devices 
  with 
  that 
  object 
  in 
  view. 
  Another 
  pupil 
  of 
  Brooks, 
  the 
  late 
  

   Henry 
  J. 
  Eice, 
  also 
  devised 
  some 
  apparatus 
  for 
  the 
  purpose, 
  and 
  is, 
  I 
  

   believe, 
  the 
  investigator 
  who 
  has 
  maintained 
  artificially 
  fertilized 
  em- 
  

   bryos 
  of 
  the 
  oyster 
  alive 
  for 
  a 
  longer 
  time 
  than 
  any 
  one 
  else. 
  None 
  of 
  

   these 
  efforts 
  have, 
  however, 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  I 
  can 
  learn 
  at 
  this 
  writing, 
  yielded 
  

   results 
  which 
  were 
  of 
  direct 
  practical 
  application, 
  or 
  have 
  been 
  of 
  suffi- 
  

   cient 
  promise, 
  when 
  applied 
  on 
  a 
  large 
  scale, 
  to 
  justify 
  their 
  continuance 
  

   in 
  their 
  original 
  forms. 
  

  

  About 
  the 
  same 
  time, 
  or 
  during 
  the 
  period 
  intervening 
  between 
  1880 
  

   and 
  1884, 
  investigators 
  were 
  busying 
  themselves 
  with 
  a 
  study 
  of 
  the 
  

   large 
  dioecious 
  Portuguese 
  oyster, 
  Ostrea 
  angulata 
  of 
  Europe. 
  The 
  

   first 
  published 
  account 
  of 
  the 
  artificial 
  fertilization 
  of 
  this 
  species 
  was 
  

   by 
  an 
  American, 
  Lieutenant 
  Winslow, 
  who 
  in 
  1880, 
  while 
  with 
  an 
  Ameri- 
  

   can 
  man-of-war 
  lying 
  off 
  Cadiz, 
  Spain, 
  obtained 
  successful 
  results 
  with 
  

   the 
  method 
  of 
  artificial 
  fertilization 
  first 
  used 
  by 
  Brooks. 
  Subsequently 
  

   M. 
  Bouchon-Brandely, 
  of 
  the 
  College 
  de 
  France, 
  took 
  up 
  the 
  subject 
  

   and 
  carried 
  on 
  further 
  investigations, 
  and 
  in 
  his 
  efforts 
  to 
  attain 
  practi- 
  

   cal 
  results 
  reported 
  very 
  remarkable 
  success 
  in 
  obtaining 
  spat 
  on 
  a 
  

   moderately 
  large 
  scale. 
  He, 
  however, 
  adopted 
  a 
  system 
  which 
  had 
  been 
  

   previously 
  used 
  on 
  a 
  small 
  scale 
  by 
  the 
  writer. 
  Subsequently, 
  and 
  un- 
  

   aware 
  of 
  what 
  American 
  investigators 
  were 
  doing, 
  this 
  experimenter 
  

   used 
  the 
  closed-circuit 
  system 
  devised 
  by 
  McDonald, 
  but 
  which 
  the 
  

   French 
  experimenter 
  operated 
  in 
  a 
  different 
  manner. 
  

  

  Out 
  of 
  this 
  grew 
  the 
  system 
  of 
  operating 
  inclosed 
  ponds 
  with 
  the 
  help 
  

   of 
  the 
  tides 
  during 
  the 
  years 
  1882 
  to 
  1885. 
  But 
  in 
  consequence 
  of 
  a 
  

   radical 
  misapprehension 
  of 
  the 
  essentials 
  of 
  a 
  rational 
  method, 
  I 
  am 
  

   forced 
  to 
  admit 
  that 
  no 
  results 
  of 
  great 
  practical 
  value 
  were 
  the 
  imme- 
  

   diate 
  outcome 
  of 
  any 
  of 
  these 
  experiments. 
  While 
  the 
  work 
  has 
  been 
  

   immediately 
  fruitless, 
  mediately 
  it 
  has 
  not 
  been 
  so, 
  for 
  the 
  light 
  gained 
  

  

  