304 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



[Year Book of Facts of 1859.] 

 Extract from this very valuable little book. 



PISCICULTURE. 



M. Coste, who has devoted many years to this interesting subject, has 

 presented to the French Academy of Sciences some specimens of trout, 

 hatched at the College de France, and then transferred to a pond in the 

 Emperor's domain of Villeneuve-l'Etang, near St. Cloud, 



The trout of one year old in that pond were about twenty centimetres 

 (about 8^- inches) in length, and between two and three ounces in weight ; 

 so that, in the Paris market, they would fetch from 1 franc (about 20 cents) 

 to 1^ (about 25 cents) each. 



Those of the age of thirty-three months were between 45 and 50 centi- 

 metres (17 2 inches) to ID^ inches in length, and weighed from one pound 

 to two pounds and upwards ; so that their market value was between 3 and 

 4 francs (60 to 80 cents) each. They were so numerous in the small piece 

 of water where they had been reared, that it was impossible to take them 

 with a dredging net without killing some, so that a casting net had to be 

 used. M. Coste added, that they had no other nourishment but worms, 

 insects and tadpoles. 



SALMON. 



On the 26th of July, 1858, the net fisheries, on the river Tweed, had 

 the largest take of salmon ever remembered by the oldest fisherman, in the 

 same space. From 6 o'clock A. M. till night, they took 3,500 full grown 

 salmon, and about half as many grilses and trout, making in all 5,000 fish. 



OBSERVATIONS ON THE CEREALIA. 



Mr. Pell spoke on the subject of materials of which we make bread. 



The various products of the vegetable kingdom ai'e distinguished from 

 each other, as to their nourishing properties, by the proportion of gluten, 

 starch, mucilage, sugar, oils and acids, that they contain. The first three 

 named are the most valuable, because they abound in farinaceous princi- 

 ples, which, on being dried and ground, produce farina that can be easily 

 converted into bread. 



Among farinaceous plants the most important undoubtedly are the corn- 

 bearing grasses, and next to them the leguminosoe, or pods bearing seeds, 

 such as peas, beans, &c. God has kindly distributed the corn plants over 

 the entire world, inhabited by man ; and they consist of Indian corn, 

 wheat, rye, oats, rice and millet. In other countries the term corn is ap- 

 plied to all varieties of grain, but with us, maize alone is called corn. The 

 only grain that will make light bread is wheat, and where this will not 

 grow, the others are called into requisition as food for man. 



All grain plants, supported upon hollow straw, are annuals, and known 

 as culmiferous, bearing a leaf from each joint. The stems are covered with 

 fluid, which is extracted from the earth and dissolved by some mysterious 

 process unknown to man, probably ammonia. 



