﻿18 
  

  

  SMELT-HATCHING 
  OPERATIONS. 
  

  

  The 
  efforts 
  to 
  propagate 
  artilicially 
  tlic 
  Smelt, 
  Osmerus 
  

   morclax, 
  of 
  the 
  Raritau 
  river, 
  New 
  Jersey, 
  in 
  1876, 
  when 
  

   we 
  procured 
  the 
  adult 
  fish 
  which 
  were 
  about 
  to 
  spawn, 
  as 
  

   they 
  were 
  taken 
  from 
  ilie 
  river 
  in 
  the 
  nefs 
  fished 
  at 
  New 
  

   Brunswick, 
  and 
  transferred 
  tiie 
  fisli 
  lo 
  the 
  Hatching 
  House 
  

   in 
  Druid 
  Hill 
  Park, 
  there 
  took 
  the 
  eggs 
  and 
  milt 
  fVom 
  

   tliem, 
  and 
  treated 
  tlie 
  same 
  in 
  the 
  apparatus 
  theie 
  in 
  use, 
  

   having 
  resulted 
  unsuccessfully, 
  I 
  determined 
  to 
  repeat 
  the 
  

   experiment, 
  establishing 
  lieadquarters 
  at 
  New 
  Brunswick, 
  

   and 
  taking 
  the 
  eggs 
  from 
  tlie 
  ripe 
  fish 
  as 
  they 
  were 
  landed 
  

   from 
  the 
  seines. 
  

  

  ]Iaving 
  visited 
  New 
  Brunswick 
  w 
  ith 
  tiiis 
  view, 
  and 
  made 
  

   the 
  necessary 
  arrangements, 
  I 
  transferred 
  the 
  apparatus 
  

   and 
  im])rovised 
  a 
  temporary 
  Hatching 
  House. 
  On 
  the 
  3d 
  of 
  

   March, 
  having 
  secured 
  the 
  services 
  of 
  Mv. 
  H. 
  J. 
  Rice, 
  

   Fellow 
  in 
  Natural 
  History 
  of 
  the 
  Johns 
  Hopkins 
  University, 
  

   through 
  the 
  kindness 
  of 
  President 
  Oilman, 
  the 
  able 
  head 
  of 
  

   the 
  University, 
  I 
  placed 
  under 
  his 
  direction 
  "Wm. 
  Hamlcn, 
  

   one 
  of 
  the 
  employees 
  of 
  the 
  Commission^ 
  who 
  had 
  been 
  care- 
  

   fully 
  trained 
  by 
  me 
  in 
  taking 
  the 
  spawn 
  of 
  several 
  other 
  

   varieties 
  of 
  fish. 
  

  

  The 
  record 
  of 
  the 
  operations 
  at 
  New 
  Brunswick 
  will 
  be 
  

   found 
  in 
  subsec^uent 
  table 
  ; 
  the 
  detailed 
  account 
  of 
  the 
  

   operations, 
  and 
  history 
  of 
  the 
  gradual 
  development 
  of 
  the 
  

   eggs, 
  will 
  be 
  found 
  in 
  Mr. 
  Rice's 
  able 
  report 
  appended, 
  

   which 
  is 
  illustrated 
  bj^ 
  accurate 
  and 
  well 
  executed 
  micro- 
  

   scopic 
  drawings 
  made 
  during 
  his 
  sojourn 
  at 
  New 
  Brunswick, 
  

   A.s 
  Mr. 
  Rice 
  gives 
  a 
  full 
  and 
  interesting 
  account 
  of 
  opera- 
  

   tions 
  and 
  natural 
  history 
  observations, 
  I 
  think 
  it 
  unneces- 
  

   sary 
  to 
  go 
  into 
  more 
  full 
  detail 
  s\ 
  

  

  On 
  the 
  20th 
  of 
  April 
  I 
  reached 
  Baltimore 
  with 
  several 
  

   cans 
  of 
  young 
  Smelt 
  — 
  the 
  result 
  of 
  these 
  experimental 
  oper- 
  

   ations. 
  It 
  was 
  impossible 
  to 
  count 
  them, 
  or 
  to 
  estimate 
  with 
  

   any 
  certainty 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  fish 
  contained 
  in 
  these 
  cans, 
  as 
  

  

  