THE SPAWNING RACE. 67 



combination of natural impregnation with, artificial 

 incubation was successfully accomplished. 



In regard to the impregnation of the ova, nothing 

 more could be asked, yet there were some objec- 

 tions to this form of race. In the first place, time 

 and labor were required to raise the screens and 

 remove the ova. Unless the sections were very 

 small, the weight of frame, grating, and gravel 

 were by no means light. The fishes must be 

 driven from the race each time the eggs were taken, 

 and, as previously mentioned, quiet is one of the 

 requisites for successful natural impregnation ; the 

 spawn at an early stage were subjected to rather 

 rough handling; and last, though not least, the 

 hands of the operator were alternately immersed in 

 comparatively warm water and suddenly exposed 

 to the wintry air. 



Mr. A. S. Collins, the friend and partner of the 

 redoubtable Seth, has invented and patented an 

 arrangement by which all these evils are removed, 

 and the fish culturist can now take and remove to 

 his hatching-house his impregnated spawn without 

 wetting his hands. This is indeed the luxury of 

 fish-culture. The following is his description of 

 his invention : 



The improvement consists in a new and conve- 

 nient method of collecting the eggs. Fig. 14 repre- 

 sents a small spawning box with a portion of the 



