[21] FISH CULTURE IN CENTRAL EUROPE. 559 



fecundated, and were thus lost. In nature the male fish closely follows 

 the female, and it may be said that the laying of the eggs and their fecun- 

 dation are simultaneous. But in spite of the action of the water which 

 kills the enemies of the eggs, and the alkaline slimiuess of the eggs 

 which favors their movements, it is a fact "that many eggs do not 

 undergo the process of fecundation which necessarily takes place under 

 the water. At the present time, therefore, nature is no longer imitated 

 in a servile manner, and it is the general practice to employ dry fecunda- 

 tion, which assures better and more general success. When as many 

 eggs have been obtained as are deemed sufficient, and artificial fecun- 

 dation has been reached by mixing at proper and regular intervals the 

 milt with the spawn, the eggs are washed and then placed in the 

 troughs. 



The possibility of fecundating eggs on the shore of the waters from 

 which the fish have been taken is proved by the circumstance that the 

 eggs immediately after fecundation are so elastic as to allow of their 

 being packed and skipped to the places where they are to be hatched. 

 As soon as incubation has commenced this is no longer possible, even 

 if managed in the most delicate manner, as the eggs when exposed to 

 any pressure will inevitably be lost. But transportation again becomes 

 possible when the eggs are near being hatched ; that is to say, when the 

 eyes of the embryo can easily be distinguished through the shell. From 

 a practical point of view it is, therefore, important to know whether 

 fresh eggs contained in a dead female fish can be fecundated. 



If it is desired to know how many eggs have been obtained, the ob- 

 ject can be reached by measuring them in small cylinders of a known 

 capacity, having perforated sides and bottom, and, the kind of fish from 

 which the eggs have come of course being known, to count the eggs in 

 one cylinder* and multiply by the number of cylinders. 



Packing and shipping embryojiated eggs. — I have witnessed the packing 

 of embryonated eggs, to be sent a considerable distance, at Hiiningen 

 and at Selzenhof. The egg& were placed on a bed of moistened wadding 

 gathering them in a piece of cloth folded in such a manner as to j>revent 

 the eggs from touching the sides, and keeping them covered. The layer 

 of* eggs was placed on the perforated bottom of a small wooden box. 

 The next box is exactly like the first, and the last box of the pile con- 

 tains the small pieces of ice, the cool dripping of which keeps the eggs 

 below alive. The pile of boxes has on the top a stick of the same length 

 as the boxes, and rests on a similar stick at the bottom. The whole is 

 kept in position by a cord placed crosswise, and is then put in a larger 

 box, the spaces between its inner sides and the pile of boxes containing 

 the eggs being filled with sawdust, hay, or compressed moss. 



From Pavesi's report the labels are known which are attached to the 

 outside of the package, and which contain the address of the persons 



*A liter measure [a little more thau a quart] of eggs coutains 15,025 Thymallus eggs, 

 8,000 trout eggs, 7,000 of salmon, ami 36,920 of the Coregonus. 



