﻿of 
  my 
  first 
  experiment, 
  I 
  learned 
  by 
  the 
  microscope 
  that 
  the 
  

   attempt 
  at 
  artificial 
  fertilization 
  was 
  successful, 
  and 
  that 
  

   nearly 
  all 
  of 
  my 
  eggs 
  had 
  started 
  on 
  their 
  long 
  path 
  towards 
  

   the 
  adult 
  form. 
  

  

  I 
  made 
  careful 
  microscopic 
  examination 
  of 
  the 
  gills 
  and 
  

   mantles 
  of 
  all 
  these 
  oysters, 
  but 
  neither 
  at 
  this 
  time 
  nor 
  after- 
  

   wards 
  did 
  I 
  find 
  any 
  fertilized 
  eggs 
  or 
  young 
  inside 
  the 
  parent 
  

   shell, 
  although 
  I 
  examined 
  more 
  than 
  a 
  thousand 
  adults 
  dur- 
  

   ing 
  the 
  season. 
  During 
  the 
  summer 
  I 
  found 
  females 
  with 
  the 
  

   ovaries 
  so 
  distended 
  with 
  ripe 
  eggs 
  that 
  they 
  were 
  oozing 
  

   from 
  the 
  openings 
  of 
  the 
  oviducts 
  ; 
  others 
  where 
  the 
  ovaries 
  

   were 
  half 
  emptied, 
  and 
  others 
  which 
  had 
  discharged 
  almost 
  

   all 
  their 
  eggs, 
  and 
  othei's 
  at 
  all 
  the 
  intermediate 
  stages, 
  but 
  

   in 
  no 
  case 
  did 
  I 
  find 
  a 
  single 
  developing 
  egg 
  inside 
  the 
  shell 
  

   of 
  the 
  parent. 
  

  

  I 
  have 
  accumulated 
  enough 
  evidence 
  to 
  show 
  beyond 
  the 
  

   possibility 
  of 
  doubt, 
  that 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  the 
  oysters 
  of 
  the 
  Chesa- 
  

   peake 
  Bay, 
  during 
  the 
  summer 
  of 
  1879, 
  are 
  concerned, 
  the 
  

   eggs 
  are 
  fertilized 
  outside 
  the 
  body 
  of 
  the 
  parent, 
  and 
  that^ 
  

   during 
  the 
  period 
  which 
  the 
  young 
  European 
  oyster 
  passes 
  

   inside 
  the 
  mantle 
  cavity 
  of 
  its 
  parent, 
  the 
  young 
  of 
  our 
  oyster 
  

   swims 
  at 
  large 
  in 
  the 
  open 
  ocean. 
  

  

  While 
  this 
  evidence 
  cannot 
  be 
  regarded 
  as 
  sufficient 
  to 
  

   show 
  that 
  the 
  young 
  of 
  the 
  American 
  oyster 
  are 
  never 
  car- 
  

   ried 
  by 
  their 
  parents, 
  it 
  is 
  certainly 
  enough 
  to 
  show 
  that 
  this 
  

   cannot 
  be 
  assumed 
  from 
  the 
  analogy 
  of 
  the 
  European 
  oyster. 
  

   Most 
  of 
  the 
  popular 
  treatises 
  on 
  the 
  use 
  of 
  the 
  microscope 
  

   state 
  that 
  during 
  the 
  summer 
  young 
  oysters 
  may 
  be 
  found 
  

   inside 
  the 
  shells 
  of 
  the 
  old 
  ones, 
  and 
  as 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  ama- 
  

   teur 
  workers 
  with 
  the 
  microscope 
  in 
  this 
  country 
  is 
  quite 
  

   large, 
  I 
  should 
  be 
  glad 
  to 
  learn 
  whether 
  any 
  one 
  has 
  ever 
  

   found 
  this 
  to 
  be 
  the 
  case 
  with 
  American 
  oysters. 
  

  

  Until 
  some 
  such 
  evidence 
  is 
  produced 
  it 
  is 
  fair 
  to 
  conclude 
  

   that 
  my 
  results 
  are 
  to 
  be 
  applied 
  to 
  all 
  the 
  American 
  oysters,, 
  

   and 
  that 
  there 
  is 
  a 
  very 
  important 
  difl'erence 
  between 
  them 
  

   and 
  the 
  European 
  species. 
  

  

  