FISHERIES OF THE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC 173 



equally favorable. This satisfactory state of things was only 

 what had been anticipated, and the value of the Act and the 

 great benefits that had accrued from its operations had been 

 acknowledged far and near. 



"In 1859 came the advent of the Government from Tor- 

 onto to Quebec, and our then Commissioner, the Hon. P. 

 Vankoughnet, wished me to invite the Members of Parliament 

 to visit the Ovarium and to see the process of the Artificial 

 Propagation of Salmon, so that they might be able to give 

 their constituents some idea of the 'Modus operand!.' All 

 the members took a lively interest in the operations and 

 watched the proceedings with something akin to enthusiasm. 



"Among the frequent visitors were the Hon. James 

 Ferrier and his son, and they asked me if I could oblige them 

 with some of the salmon ova to place in their aquarium in 

 Montreal. I had great pleasure in complying with their re- 

 quest, and a few days after, I sent two or three hundred by 

 rail to Montreal, where they arrived without injury, and were 

 placed by Mr. Ferrier in one of their beautifully prepared 

 aquairia each of which was planted with various Alga 

 and stocked with many species of fish. In acknowledging 

 the receipt of this novel consignment, Mr. Ferrier stated that 

 the morning after their arrival the most of the ova had burst 

 their bonds, and were swimming about quite lively. I was 

 pleased to find that they had arrived safe, as it was the first 

 attempt to transport the ova to any considerable distance. 



"And now comes a most singular affair. About two 

 months after I had sent them, I received a letter from Mr. 

 Ferrier, Jr., stating that all the pet salmon which had been 

 doing so well had been devoured by a large gold fish, that 

 was kept in an adjoining Aquarium. Each Aquarium (and 

 there were more than a dozen), was divided by glass walls, 

 so to speak, which were about three feet by four feet, with a 

 depth of some twenty inches. We must presume that seeing 

 the young fry each day through the glass division, reason, or 

 instinct, if you will, led the gold fish to devise a scheme for 



