22 FISH COMMISSIONERS’ REPORT. [Jan., 
the egg with his eyeglass. The sea ran so high that we could not 
examine shad in the pens to-day. 
Tuesday, July 19.—Temperature of the water 67°. At 9 A.M. 
I examined shad and stripped two pairs in a box under water. The 
egos swelled all right. I examined the eggs taken under water on 
the 15th and found a larger amount of shells ; the eggs remaining 
had all turned opaque. We hauled the pound and caught 6 males 
and 2 females ; none ripe. 
Wednesday, July 20.—Temperature of the water 66°. At 10 
A. M. we hauled the pound and caught 5 males and | female ; none 
ripe. We examined the shad in the pens and stripped two pairs 
under water. The eggs swelled all right, and at the suggestion of 
Mr. Chalker we sank the hatching box down near the bottom of 
the Sound, on the theory that the motion on the surface destroyed 
the eggs, and that sinking would protect them from the heavy 
seas, 
Thursday, July 21.—Temperature of the water 67°. At 10a. 
M. we stripped two pairs of shad under water in a water pail, and 
they appeared all right. We started on our way with them to 
brackish water, but we soon found them all breaking in the pail, 
they being too tender to be carried. It had been my opinion for 
some days that the salt water destroyed the shells of the eggs, 
which was the cause of breaking, and to-day I resolved to demon- 
strate the facts of the case. The following are the results of my 
observations with my microscope: Beginning with eggs when first 
taken from a good shad, the shells looked smooth and good. Then 
taking the eggs that were in the salt water seven hours, I could 
see on the shells what appeared hke pin pricks. When the same 
eggs had been in salt water twenty-four hours, the size of the pits 
is quite large and looks like small-pox pits on the face of a person. 
The pits continue to grow larger and deeper. This is what causes 
all the eggs to break when three or four days old ; that is the old- 
est we have had. In my statement I have previously spoken of 
the eggs adhering to the pans and not changing in size, and to-day 
I took one pair of good shad and stripped some eggs, with a male, 
in a pan, and the eggs adhered. I then took some from the same 
fish without the male and let them stand until the germ disks 
were closed and beyond any chance of impregnating. Then I 
used the male and found that the eggs adhered. I then took the 
egos from the same fish, under water, with a male, and they all 
swelled to a good size, while those stripped by the old method, 
