THE SOLWAY FISH HATCHERY. $45 
“the magic of property.” That the sense of security conferred 
by possession is exerting its natural influence was apparent on a 
recent visit, from the operations in progress and the plans which 
we learned are in contemplation. 
The busiest season of the year at the fishery—the hatching 
time—is over. On the occasion of the writer's visit a compara- 
tively few ova, taken from late fish, remained upon the grills, 
some being those of salmon; but a good many of the imma- 
ture fry were still on hand. Here we see Nature not only assisted, 
but in part we may say superseded by art. The fish are spawned 
by hand, and the after stages of incubation and rearing the fry 
take place under artificial conditions. The hatchery proper is a 
long stone and lime building, fitted up with numerous narrow 
and shallow wooden boxes, through which there is kept up a 
constant circulation of the purest water. These are in the first 
instance filled with little grills, which are frames full of glass 
tubes, on which the ova is deposited, and as the season progresses 
they become the home of the fry in various stages of develop- 
ment. The naturalist has the opportunity of following the 
progress of the young life with the closest observation from the 
time that the first faint indication of vital form tinges the semi- 
transparent mass of the egg until the fish has emerged, appearing 
like a minute tail attached to a ball of disproportionate size, and 
until this ball or sac, with which Nature has provided for its 
sustenance during an infancy of three months, has been absorbed, 
and the tiny fish has become a feeding, self-supporting animal, 
ready, after several weeks of probationary training, to be set up 
in life on his own account. The boxes occupied by the fry 
present a very animated appearance, shoals of thousands reposing 
in a dark, inert-looking mass on the gravelly bottom; then sud- 
denly dissolving into as many active, quick-darting atoms, when 
disturbed, or when attracted by the offer of food. It is in the fry 
stage, of course, that the greatest quantities are sent out from 
the fishery. This season quantities have been dispatched to all 
parts of the country, literally from Land’s End to John o’ Groats’. 
Ova is also supplied from the fishery in considerable quantities, 
consignments having been sent even to the Antipodes. For the 
transit of yearling fish zinc tanks are provided, of circular and 
tapering form, with a smaller inverted can on the top, filled with 
ice, the drip from which preserves an equal temperature in the 
