160 FISH-CULTURAL ASSOCIATION. 
ficial ponds, so as to develop the fry to that point in their life- 
history at which they can be transferred from the fertilizing pans 
or dishes to parks, and there placed under such conditions as 
will enable them to grow into adult’ oysters. I do not mean to 
insist that the American methods of confining the oyster spat 
are of paramount importance, but I do assert that we were the 
first to practically apply any methods, or to devise suitable ap- 
paratus for such experiments. In the pamphlet to which I have 
referred, there is described a machine in which the embryo are 
confined and in which the water is kept in continuous circula- 
tion. That machine was devised and operated by Colonel Mc- 
Donald in 1882. I believe that Lieutenant Winslow, in associa- 
tion with Professor Brooks operated a similar machine about 
the same time. Both of these experiments were successful, I 
think, in getting the fry attached within about twenty-four hours 
after artificial fertilization. So much for the facts. Subsequent- 
ly, or about ayear later, I carried on some experiments at Stock- 
ton, Maryland, following out on a larger scale the methods 
which I had devised in 1880, in order to confine the artificially 
fertilized eggs with the result of getting spat from artificially 
fertilized eggs. The method of confining the fry is simple, 
and merely involves the use of a diaphragm of sand through 
which the tide may ebb and flow automatically, and thus renew 
the water in the inclosure. It is evident that such a diaphragm 
might be utilized to confine the larvz which are thrown off 
from the beds, and which are confined to coves or areas with re- 
stricted months: in other words, that there are a great many 
places (as indicated on the maps in this hall, prepared by Lieut. 
Winslow) in which diaphragms might be constructed on a very 
simple plan, but upon a larger scale, and by means of which we 
could actually confine the spawn and prevent it from escaping 
from the areas, whilst we would provide in those same waters 
clean “cultch” to which the spat could adhere. 
The history of the attachment of the spat has been worked out 
very carefully by Professor Huxley and mvself, for both the 
American and European species. The papers in which these 
matters have been discussed may be found in the Luglish /llus- 
trated Magazine for 1883, and in the Bulletins and Reports of the 
