4:66 AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOOK. 



wise the spawn of tlie famous Turbot and Sole ; and is about 

 to apply to the legislature for a law to make it incumbent 

 upon all persons in the state who gain a livelihood by the 

 capture of fish, to plant impregnated spawn upon their fish- 

 ing-grounds. 



'' Eemarks on the same subject were made by other mem- 

 bers of the club, all of whom were sanguine of its success, 

 and confident that it would be of service to the community." 



I have since read other articles showing the feasibility of 

 producing and breeding fish artificially, and have heard of 

 experimenters being entirely successful in it. Amongst the 

 latter are some enterprising fish-breeders of Hartford, Con- 

 necticut, one of whom has visited France for the purpose of 

 witnessing the modus operandi and obtaining information on 

 the subject. There are also several instances of complete 

 success said to have occurred on Long Island and in Ohio. 



Although, in the following pages, I quote chiefly from 

 M. Ooste's directions, found in Mr. Fry's book, Messrs. Gehin 

 and Kemy, fishermen of the Commune of Bresse, of the 

 department of Yosges, were the discoverers, and the first who 

 turned their attention, in a practical way, to the production 

 of fish by artificial propagation. These two humble French- 

 men afterwards brought the subject to the notice of scientific 

 men, who procured for it the patronage of the French govern- 

 ment ; and notwithstanding M. Coste claims for Jacobi, a 

 Grerman, the discovery of fecundating the ova by artificial 

 means, as early as 1758, it appears that Gehin and Kemy were 

 not aware of any previous experiments having been made. 

 According to M. Coste's account, Jacobi, like these two fish- 

 ermen, founded his theory on a simple fact which he disco- 

 vered by careful observation; it is that the spawn of the 

 female is not impregnated by the seminal fluid of the male 

 until after it is ejected. M. Coste further says that this 



