■214 



THE AMERICAN MONTHLY 



[November, 



in the salt marsh, near the shore of 

 Chincoteague Bay, and connected 

 with the latter by a trench about ten 

 feet long, two feet wide and three feet 

 deep. Before the water was let into 

 the pond a wooden diaphragm, made 

 with perforated boards l;ned with 

 gunny cloth, and filled with clean 

 beach sand, was placed in the ditch 

 and so secured that absolutely no 

 water could get into the pond from 

 the bay except such as fihered through 

 this diaphragm. The rise and fall of 

 the tide alone was depended upon to 

 change the water in the pond, and it 

 was found to rise and fall from four to 

 six inches during every tide, ebbing 

 and flowing slowly through the dia- 

 phragm. The rise and fall was found 

 not to be as great in the pond as in 

 the open bay, but was sufficient, as 

 the sequel has shown. The inclosure 

 so arranged constituted the whole of 

 the apparatus, if it could be called 

 such, designed to confine the artifici- 

 ally fertilized spawn. 



"The spawn was taken from the 

 adults by a method originally devised 

 by Mr. Ryder, and already described 

 in various published reports and 

 papers. After the spawn was taken 

 it was allowed to stand in pails with 

 an abundance of clean water for a 

 period of three to five hours, so as to 

 give the oyster eggs a chance to 

 develop to the swinnning condition. 

 It was then poured into the pond or 

 inclosure at various points to insure 

 its effectual distribution through the 

 water. Stakes were then driven into 

 the bottom of the pond, to which dead 

 oyster shells were suspended on wire ; 

 the stakes put down at different dates 

 being marked so as to distinguish 

 them apart. The suspended oyster 

 shells were introduced so as to afford 

 the young fry clean surfaces to which 

 they could fix themselves. The first 

 spawn and shell collectors were put 

 into the pond July yth, and some of the 

 shells were found by Mr. Pierce, on 

 Au"^. 22d just past, to have spat at- 

 tached ranging from a fourth to three- 

 fourihs of an inch in diameter. Some 



samples of these young oysters are 

 now in Mr. Ryder's possession, prov- 

 ing conclusively that oysters may be 

 reared in inclosed ponds such as here 

 described, in which it has also been 

 found that the natural food of the 

 animal is produced in vast quantity. 

 This experiment has been so con- 

 ducted as to preclude any doubt that 

 the spat obtained has been derived 

 from any source except that of the 

 spawn artificially fertilized and intro- 

 duced into the inclosure. It also 

 marks the most important step that 

 has yet been made in this country in 

 oyster culture. The methods are 

 likewise so simple that they are avail- 

 able in the hands of unskilled persons. 

 A full description of the methods pur- 

 sued will shortly be published in the 

 Reports of the Uni:ed States Fish 

 Commsion." 



Young Oysters. 



It is said that the American oyster 

 in its larval or embryonic condition, 

 escapes from the parent devoid of any 

 shelly covering, swims about by means 

 of cilia for a short time, and then set- 

 tles down for life. The British oyster 

 in its young stage is less venturesome, 

 for it remains within the mother shell 

 until its own shell has formed, when it 

 swims away and soon becomes at- 

 tached for future growth. The young 

 oysters, with their delicate, transparent 

 shells, and cilia projecting between 

 the valves incessantl}'^ lashing the 

 water, are interesting objects under 

 the microscope, but they are not to be 

 found in the American oyster. In 

 England they may be found m great 

 abundance during August and Sep- 

 tember, in the oyster spat, which ap- 

 pears as a dark-grey, slimy mass 

 running from the shell of the mother 

 oyster. By separating the two valves 

 the spat may be run off into bottles, 

 and in clean salt water the embryos 

 will live for a considerable time. To 

 most microscopists in this country the 

 minute shells of the embryos are only 



