164 THE HATCHING OF FISH. 



find the eggs of the trout at such a considerable depth 

 in the gravel, certainly from one to two feet. They 

 were all about loose in the gravel, reminding one of 

 plums in a pudding. I cannot understand how the 

 trout manages to get her eggs so deep in the sand. 

 They certainly sink in the water ; but one would fancy 

 the current would whip them away in a moment. Again, 

 how are they not crushed ? I have stated above that 

 their coats are very elastic ; but I had no idea they 

 were so tough. In order to ascertain positively how 

 much direct weight they would bear, I tried experi- 

 ments on the eggs, by placing iron stamped weights 

 on individual eggs. I was astonished to find that they 

 were not crushed till I had placed no less than five 

 pounds six ounces on them." 



This elastic toughness facilitates the transport of fish 

 ova for the purposes of pisciculture ; and experience 

 has demonstrated that they can be safely transported 

 hundreds of miles, either by land or water, if carefully 

 packed in layers of moist moss, or of rough sponge, the 

 size of a walnut, and well cleaned. The boxes of ova 

 sent to London from the famous fish-rearing establish- 

 ment of Huningue, usually occupy from two to four 

 days in the transit ; which is safely effected in conse- 

 quence of the French pisciculturists insisting on observ- 

 ance of this simple rule never attempt the removal of 

 ova till the eyes of the fsh are plainly seen in the egg. 



The expense of collecting and removing ova is 

 trifling. The superintendent of Messrs Ashworth's 

 Irish fishings collected and deposited seven hun- 

 dred and seventy thousand salmon ova in the streams 

 of Lough Mask, besides conveying alive forty adult 

 salmon a distance of twenty-three miles in a large tub 

 of water. The cost of this very laborious-looking 

 operation was only eighteen pounds, in addition to the 

 weekly cost of the staff of water-bailiffs and workmen. 



We are delighted to learn that success has at last 

 rewarded the repeated efforts to introduce the ova of 



