288 OUT OF DOORS. 



stocked, and was netted three years after the tiny 

 inmates were admitted, no less than eight thousand 

 pounds weight of fish were captured by a single sweep 

 of the net. This pond was near Montmirail, in the 

 department of the Marne, and is now unfortunately 

 cleared of fish, the proprietor having determined on 

 filling it up and using the ground for agricultural pur- 

 poses. 



It is rather remarkable that the Chinese, who seem 

 from time immemorial to have known the rudiments of 

 almost every science, and never to have advanced 

 beyond them, are well acquainted with the principles 

 of pisciculture, and have carried out the science to a 

 greater extent than is usual with that thrifty and omni- 

 vorous nation, except when a supply of food is in ques- 

 tion. They have even discovered that when the little 

 fishes have absorbed the egg vesicles, and are beginning 

 to need food which cannot be supplied in the natural 

 manner by casual insects and aquatic animalcules, the 

 best way to feed them is to beat up the yolk of an egg 

 and pour it into the water ; thus furnishing them with 

 a kind of diet that requires no trouble to procure, being 

 carried into their tiny mouths by the mere action of 

 the water ; and which is analogous to the nutriment 

 contained in the vesicle from which they had previously 

 drawn their support. 



It is of course impossible, in the limited space 

 which can be allotted to a single subject in these pages, 

 to give more than a superficial sketch of the processes 



