MARYLAND. 



691 



constantly in a current of fresh puro water, 

 and to prevent them from forming in a solid 

 moss, which would destroy the chances of 

 hutching them out. In from four to six days 

 tho little fish appear ; they are lively, nnd swim 

 around their cun as if desirous to get out into 

 the largo body of water. In ten days or two 

 weeks they are largo enough to be shipped to 

 distant points or to be cast back into the river. 

 One of the most important works done by 

 the State Fish Commission consisted in the in- 

 vestigations conducted in tho lower (or Chesa- 

 peake) bay, which resulted in tho initiation of 

 the artificial cultivation of the oyster. Tho 

 statement was made early in Juno that Profes- 

 sor Brooks of the Johns Hopkins University 

 had succeeded in artificially impregnating tho 

 eggs of the oyster ; that tho process of segmen- 

 tation occupied four hours, and in six hours 

 free-swimming ciliated embryos were produced. 

 The process was explained by Professor Brooks 

 to a visitor to his residence, who thus de- 

 scribes it: 



Half a dozen on tho half shell served on a plate, a 

 few watch-crystals, a small glass jar, a little water, and 

 the microscope constitute the laboratory. The oysters 

 had boon taken fresh from their boas, and opened 

 carefully. They will live in this way for a day or two 

 if kept in a cool place, and all the wnile the heart may 

 be seen to pulsate in its little cleft next to the muscle. 

 Close to this beating heart lay what is commonly called 

 the " fat of tho oyster," but which is really tho repro- 

 ductive organs. These are wrapped all around the 

 stomach, liver, and digestive organs, the latter being 

 the " black " or " dark part of the oyster." The flaps 

 which extend from the opening point of the shells 

 around the whole of one side of the oyster arc his gills, 

 through which he breathes and separates his food. 

 His mouth is at tho butt end of the shells, where the 

 hinge joins them. 



The oyster's food is microscopic organisms plants 

 and animals. The gills take in these with water when 

 the sheik are opened, making the sucking noise so 

 familiar when the oyster is " feeding." The water is 

 sifted through the gills, leaving the microscopic food 

 on the interior surface. The food is carried by a fringe 

 of cilia, perpetually in motion, down and between two 

 mustachios into the mouth at the opposite end of the 

 mollusk. These hairs or cilia on the edge of tho gills 

 vibrate continuously, and the motion which they make 

 is like rowing. A very pretty test showing tho pas- 

 sage of substances along the gills has been made with 

 carmine on the fresh-water mussel under water. 



Experienced oystor-shuckors at the raw box and 

 oystermen nearly all claim to be ablo to distinguish 

 tho sex of the oyster by simple inspection, but there is 

 no difference apparent to sight. Male ana female oys- 

 ters on the hall shell can not bo told apart, and indeed 

 one in fifty is believed to bo hermaphrodite. It is 

 asserted that oysters are females when young and 

 males when they become older and larger. Snails are 

 known to be of different sexes at different times. But 

 in regard to oysters tho fact of sex has not been estab- 

 lished with certainty, nor is it of importance. 



To produce free-swimming ciliated embryos by arti- 

 ficial process, the operator pinched away with twee- 

 zers a particle of the fatty or generative part of the 

 oyster, not knowing in advance whether it was male 

 or female. The fragment was put into a few drops of 

 water in a watch-crystal and stirred until the eggs 

 were well shaken out. Useless tissue was then thrown 

 away, leaving the water milky from tho number of 

 eggs. The microscope determined the sex. 



In the present experiment the first oyster proved to 

 be of the masculine gender. His heart was regularly 



boating when tho generative part was taken from him. 

 Under tho microscope the male cells appeared t/> l 

 the very finest dote, perpetually in active motion. 

 Myriads of them appeared in a * ingle drop of water, 

 each ono being Hulflcicnt for impregnation, properly 

 lodged. On the other hand, the female eggs are 100.- 

 000 times larger than the male cells, and are discerni- 

 ble by the naked eye. Female egg* remain perfectly 

 passive when separated. Under tho microscope they 

 look to be of tho size of a pea, while the male cell* are 

 no larger than a grain of the finest kind of writing- 

 sand, u indeed they are so large. 



Having been washed out into separate watch-crys- 

 tals and viewed under the microscope, the eggs are 

 mixed with the male cells. Then vicwea under mag- 

 nifying power, what is going on is revealed. It is a 

 perpetual and wonderful succession of changes, every 

 stage of which the patient scientist has noted and 

 drawn at intervals varying from a minute to fifteen 

 minutes. By the aid of these drawings the changes 

 under the microscope may be anticipated, and the suc- 

 cession is invariably as laid down and noted by tho 

 discoverer. The male cells vigorously attach them- 

 selves to tho egg in eager crowds, but one only of the 

 many is supposed to impregnate. The first change 

 apparent is the disappearance of the germinating ves- 

 icle, which is the round transparent center of the egg. 

 This is accomplished in a very few minutes. The egg 

 then becomes perfectly spherical, and remains quiet 

 for one or two hours, when a kneading process be- 

 comes apparent. A polar globule appears on tho sur- 

 face of the egg, and this is tho beginning of segmenta- 

 tion. By degrees and by regular stages, observed over 

 and over again in the same succession, the eggbecomcs 

 divided into smaller and smaller sphcricles. ^This pro- 

 cess of division occupies two hours, and at tiie end of 

 it a small, transparent, swimming embryo is formed, 

 which is tho oyster in its infantile state. The whole 

 process occupies from four to six hours, according to 

 the temperature. The present experiment was brought 

 to a successful development in four hours. Professor 

 Brooks in his previous experiments raised oysters 

 till they had the cilia which propel the microscopic 

 oyster, but they died without further revelation of 

 the mystery of life. Cilia have life of their own, inde- 

 pendent of the animal, and a nervous organization. 

 Word was sent to me four days after the beginning of 

 tho last experiment that the embryos were still alive 

 and doing well. Professor Brooks has had the satis- 

 faction of developing them until he could clearly trace 

 their digestive organs, and is inspired with the hope 

 that continued watchfulness will enable him soon to 

 BOO tho infants begin to take on their armor of shells. 



As in many other cities and States, so in 

 Baltimore there was an extensive effort made 

 to enforce a Sunday law. So stringent was its 

 application that excursion parties by steam- 

 boat and railroad were stopped, including in 

 one instance an excursion of religious people 

 destined to a camp-meeting. This led to the 

 formation of a Liberal League by those op- 

 posed to tho law. Their views were expressed 

 in the following resolutions : 



Whereas, Tho Constitution of the United States, 

 from beginning to end, in spirit and in letter, is framed 

 in accordance with the principle of tho total separation 

 of church and state, and tho treaty with Tripoli, signed 

 by George Washington, as a part of tho supremo law 

 or the land, declares emphatically that " the Govern- 

 ment of the United States is not in any sense founded 

 on tho Christian religion " ; 



And whereas, Notwithstanding these facts, tho ad- 

 ministration of the national Government and tho ad- 

 ministrations and constitutions of tho several State 

 governments maintain numerous practical connections 

 of the state with the church, thereby violating the 

 spirit of tho United States Constitution and tho glori- 



