56 FISH-CULTURAL ASSOCIATION, 
several times per day. This was clearly demonstrated by keep- 
ing a large number of the young animals alive for fourteen days. 
How many of the number were attached to the bottom and sides 
of the dish I have no means of knowing; but if one attached 
itself on the second day, it is perhaps fair to infer that others 
attached themselves to various portions of the vessel during the 
period they were confined in it. In regard to introducing food 
it is probable that not a very large amount went through the 
flannel strip, but some was put in the water with the syringe. 
So far then it appears that we can maintain a circulation in our 
breeding vessel without losing our young animals, and we can 
also introduce food by introducing fresh sea water which has 
been reduced to the temperature of that of the breeding vessel, 
and which has not passed through the flannel sifters. 
The practicability of the artificial cultivation of the oyster, 
then, seems to hinge upon the care with which these steps or 
processes are carried out. Oysters seem to feed upon the in- 
flowing tide, and if an apparatus is so arranged that the water 
can be drawn down steadily by means of the capillary attraction 
exerted through flannel or some other substance, until low in 
the dish, and then brought in with a steady stream of evenly- 
tempered water, with sufficient strength to move the young 
oysters about from place to place, and carry food about 
with it, it would appear as if practical success could be attained. 
In such an apparatus pieces of glass or small fragments of shells 
could be suspended, to which the young animals could attach 
themselves, and these pieces could be withdrawn and examined 
from time to time for the purpose of tracing the progress of the 
hatching. I propose to continue my experiments in this direc- 
tion the coming summer as occasion may permit, and although 
the disadvantages are great of working with animals so small 
that a microscope has constantly to be used, yet I hope to be 
able to show that with care and good weather something prac- 
tical can be accomplished. 
