﻿40 
  

  

  The 
  various 
  observations 
  which 
  have 
  been 
  published 
  re- 
  

   garding 
  the 
  place 
  where 
  the 
  eggs 
  are 
  fertilized 
  in 
  the 
  

   European 
  oyster 
  are 
  very 
  contradictory. 
  

  

  In 
  1827 
  Home 
  stated 
  (Phil. 
  Trans. 
  1827,) 
  that 
  the 
  eggs 
  arc 
  

   impregnated 
  inside 
  the 
  ovaries; 
  but 
  as 
  his 
  paper 
  also 
  states 
  

   that 
  the 
  rotation 
  of 
  the 
  ciliated 
  embryo 
  is 
  caused 
  by 
  a 
  para- 
  

   sitic 
  worm, 
  it 
  is 
  doubtful 
  whether 
  the 
  means 
  at 
  his 
  command 
  

   were 
  adequate 
  to 
  the 
  solution 
  of 
  the 
  question. 
  

  

  Ir 
  tlie 
  "Report 
  of 
  the 
  Commission 
  appointed 
  to 
  Examine 
  

   into 
  the 
  Methods 
  of 
  Oyster 
  Culture 
  in 
  France 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  

   United 
  Kingdom 
  with 
  a 
  view 
  to 
  the 
  Introduction 
  of 
  Improved 
  

   Methods 
  of 
  Culture 
  of 
  the 
  Oyster 
  into 
  Ireland, 
  1870," 
  J. 
  G. 
  

   Hart, 
  Esq 
  , 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  Commissioners, 
  says, 
  p. 
  10 
  : 
  " 
  Artificial 
  

   fecundation, 
  such 
  as 
  is 
  practiced 
  with 
  the 
  Salmonidae, 
  is 
  im- 
  

   possible, 
  from 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  fecundation 
  takes 
  place 
  before 
  the 
  

   extrusion 
  of 
  the 
  ova 
  from 
  the 
  ovaries, 
  and 
  therefore 
  we 
  must 
  

   conclude 
  that 
  with 
  the 
  oj^ster 
  the 
  utmost 
  that 
  can 
  be 
  done 
  by 
  

   so-called 
  artificial 
  breeding 
  is 
  not 
  the 
  procuring 
  of 
  artificial 
  

   impregnation, 
  but 
  only 
  the 
  shepherding 
  of 
  the 
  impregnated 
  

   ova 
  during 
  infancy." 
  The 
  five 
  original 
  figures 
  which 
  he 
  gives, 
  

   pp. 
  9 
  and 
  11, 
  Figs. 
  1, 
  2, 
  3, 
  4 
  and 
  5, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  his 
  account 
  of 
  

   the 
  early 
  stages 
  of 
  the 
  oyster, 
  are 
  so 
  crude 
  and 
  indefinite 
  as 
  

   to 
  throw 
  great 
  doubt 
  on 
  the 
  value 
  of 
  his 
  evidence. 
  

  

  In 
  a 
  work 
  entitled 
  " 
  Guide 
  Practique 
  de 
  I'Ostreicultur," 
  

   Prof. 
  Felix 
  Fraiche 
  inakes 
  a 
  similar 
  statement, 
  that 
  since 
  the 
  

   eggs 
  are 
  fertilized 
  witliin 
  tne 
  ovaries 
  artificial 
  fertilization 
  is 
  

   impossible, 
  but 
  his 
  statement 
  does 
  not 
  appear 
  to 
  bo 
  based 
  

   upon 
  observation. 
  

  

  Eyton, 
  who 
  appears 
  to 
  be 
  a 
  thoroughly 
  competent 
  observer, 
  

   states 
  (History 
  of 
  the 
  Oyster 
  and 
  Oyster 
  Fisheries, 
  by 
  T. 
  C. 
  

   Eyton, 
  F. 
  L. 
  S., 
  F. 
  Z. 
  S. 
  : 
  London, 
  1S5S, 
  p. 
  21) 
  that 
  in 
  a 
  num- 
  

   ber 
  of 
  oysters 
  which 
  he 
  has 
  opened 
  and 
  examined 
  at 
  various 
  

   times, 
  and 
  from 
  different 
  places, 
  embryos, 
  at 
  diS'erent 
  stages 
  

   of 
  development, 
  were 
  present 
  inside 
  the 
  ovaries 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  on 
  

   the 
  gills. 
  There 
  seems 
  to 
  be 
  no 
  reason 
  for 
  doubting 
  his 
  evi- 
  

   dence, 
  but 
  it 
  does 
  not 
  seem 
  to 
  be 
  sufficient 
  to 
  show 
  that 
  the 
  

   eggs 
  are 
  fertilized 
  exclusively 
  in 
  the 
  ovaries. 
  

  

  Mobius, 
  whose 
  statements 
  rest 
  on 
  careful 
  observation, 
  states 
  

  

  