﻿412 
  REPORT 
  OF 
  COMMISSIONER 
  OF 
  FISH 
  AND 
  FISHERIES. 
  [32] 
  

  

  man, 
  will, 
  I 
  hope, 
  at 
  least 
  give 
  me 
  the 
  credit 
  of 
  being 
  honest 
  and 
  sincere 
  

   in 
  my 
  intentions, 
  and, 
  whether 
  he 
  feels 
  inclined 
  to 
  ridicule 
  or 
  to 
  adopt 
  

   my 
  conclusions, 
  I 
  feel 
  very 
  certain 
  that 
  what 
  I 
  have 
  formulated 
  in 
  the 
  

   preceding 
  pages 
  will 
  become 
  the 
  recognized 
  doctrine 
  of 
  the 
  future. 
  

   Wood's 
  Holl, 
  Mass., 
  September 
  20, 
  1885. 
  

  

  APPENDIX. 
  

  

  I. 
  Since 
  the 
  preceding 
  paper 
  was 
  written, 
  Prof. 
  W. 
  K. 
  Brooks 
  has 
  

   discussed 
  the 
  feasibility 
  of 
  using 
  a 
  cultch 
  of 
  shells 
  in 
  mass 
  or 
  quantity,* 
  

   as 
  contemplated 
  in 
  the 
  system 
  devised 
  by 
  me 
  and 
  described 
  above. 
  I 
  

   take 
  the 
  liberty 
  of 
  reproducing 
  Professor 
  Brooks's 
  note 
  entire, 
  as 
  fol- 
  

   lows: 
  

  

  "Without 
  expressing 
  any 
  opinion 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  value 
  of 
  the 
  process 
  of 
  

   'fattening' 
  oysters 
  by 
  placing 
  them 
  for 
  a 
  few 
  days 
  in 
  cars 
  floating 
  in 
  

   fresh 
  water, 
  I 
  wish 
  to 
  point 
  out 
  that 
  there 
  is 
  no 
  similarity 
  between 
  this 
  

   process 
  and 
  the 
  process 
  of 
  propagation 
  which 
  is 
  here 
  described. 
  

  

  "My 
  attention 
  was 
  first 
  called 
  to 
  the 
  value 
  of 
  floating 
  cars 
  in 
  oyster 
  

   culture 
  by 
  Mr. 
  William 
  Armstrong, 
  of 
  Hampton, 
  Va., 
  who 
  informed 
  mo, 
  

   in 
  1884, 
  that 
  'seed' 
  oysters 
  which 
  he 
  had 
  placed 
  in 
  floating 
  cars 
  in 
  the 
  

   month 
  of 
  Hampton 
  Creek 
  grew 
  more 
  rapidly 
  and 
  were 
  of 
  better 
  shape 
  

   and 
  more 
  marketable 
  than 
  those 
  which 
  grew 
  from 
  seed 
  planted 
  on 
  the 
  

   bottom 
  in 
  the 
  usual 
  way. 
  

  

  "One 
  of 
  the 
  results 
  of 
  my 
  study 
  in 
  1879 
  of 
  the 
  development 
  of 
  the 
  

   oyster 
  was 
  the 
  discovery 
  that 
  there 
  is 
  a 
  period 
  of 
  several 
  hours, 
  imme- 
  

   diately 
  after 
  the 
  embryo 
  acquires 
  its 
  locomotor 
  cilia, 
  when 
  it 
  swims 
  sit 
  

   the 
  surface, 
  and 
  this 
  is 
  the 
  period 
  when 
  it 
  is 
  swept 
  into 
  contact 
  with 
  

   collectors. 
  As 
  soon 
  as 
  the 
  shell 
  appears, 
  the 
  larva 
  is 
  dragged 
  down 
  

   by 
  its 
  weight, 
  and 
  either 
  settles 
  to 
  the 
  bottom 
  and 
  dies, 
  or 
  swims 
  for 
  a 
  

   time 
  near 
  the 
  bottom. 
  The 
  tendency 
  to 
  swim 
  at 
  the 
  surface 
  is 
  an 
  

   adaptation 
  for 
  securing 
  wide 
  distribution 
  by 
  means 
  of 
  the 
  winds 
  and 
  

   currents 
  which 
  sweep 
  the 
  young 
  oysters 
  against 
  solid 
  bodies 
  which 
  may 
  

   serve 
  for 
  attachment. 
  The 
  greatest 
  danger 
  to 
  which 
  the 
  oyster 
  is 
  ex- 
  

   posed 
  at 
  any 
  part 
  of 
  its 
  life 
  is 
  that 
  it 
  may 
  not, 
  at 
  the 
  swimming 
  stage, 
  

   find 
  a 
  clean, 
  hard 
  surface 
  for 
  attachment. 
  

  

  "As 
  it 
  is 
  microscopic 
  and 
  only 
  about 
  half 
  as 
  thick 
  as 
  a 
  sheet 
  of 
  thin 
  

   paper, 
  it 
  may 
  be 
  smothered 
  by 
  a 
  deposit 
  of 
  sediment 
  or 
  mud 
  so 
  slight 
  

   as 
  to 
  be 
  invisible, 
  and 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  failures 
  to 
  get 
  a 
  good 
  ' 
  set 
  of 
  spat' 
  

   arc 
  due 
  to 
  the 
  formation 
  of 
  a 
  coat 
  of 
  sediment 
  upon 
  the 
  collectors 
  be- 
  

   fore 
  the 
  young 
  oysters 
  come 
  into 
  contact 
  with 
  them. 
  

  

  " 
  It 
  occurred 
  to 
  me 
  this 
  summer 
  that 
  this 
  danger 
  could 
  be 
  entirely 
  

   avoided 
  by 
  the 
  use 
  of 
  floating 
  collectors, 
  for 
  little 
  sediment 
  can 
  fall 
  on 
  

   a 
  body 
  which 
  is 
  close 
  to 
  the 
  surface 
  of 
  the 
  water, 
  and 
  most 
  of 
  this 
  will 
  

  

  * 
  On 
  the 
  artificial 
  propagation 
  and 
  cultivation 
  of 
  oysters 
  in 
  floats. 
  Johns 
  Hopkins 
  

   University 
  Circulars, 
  Vol. 
  V, 
  No. 
  43, 
  p. 
  10, 
  October 
  21, 
  1885. 
  

  

  