LXXXVIII EEPOET OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



t. The Clams. 



The occurrence on the Pacific coast of the United States of several 

 species of edible clams of very great value has induced the Commission 

 to inquire into the propriety and importance of transplanting them t© 

 the s'^aters of the Atlantic, and Mr, E. E. C. Stearns, an eminent con- 

 chologist, was requested to visit the localities and make a report upon 

 the subject. As the result of his inquiry he finds that several species 

 are worthy of consideration, especially one of them which normally weighs 

 4 pounds and occasionally as much as 18. As soon as practicable, the 

 necessary effort will be made for their transplantation. Little if any- 

 thing, however, can be done until there is railway service to the locali- 

 ties in Washington Territory where the clams can be most readily ob- 

 tained. A report made by Mr. Stearns on the subject of these clams, 

 with illustrations of the several species, will be found in the Fish Com- 

 raission Bulletin for J.883. 



u. The American Lobster (Homarus americanus). 



The highly-prized American lobster, which occurs from Labrabor to 

 Delaware Bay, although most abundant in New England, and formerly 

 so plentiful, is now becoming scarce, and much apprehension is felt as 

 to the danger of extinction within a comparatively short period. The 

 diminution in question is not only in number but in size,' it being, of 

 course, quite natural that the larger ones should be more closely pur- 

 sued. A principal cause of this decrease has been the enormous con- 

 sumption by canning factories, where many millions of pounds are an- 

 nually put up for exportation to all parts of the world. It is perhaps 

 quite safe to say that within twenty years the decrease all along the 

 coast has amounted from 50 to 75 per cent. 



The question of the artificial production of the lobster is one that is 

 beset by many difBculties, especially in view of the fact that the eggs 

 are fertilized within the body of the female, and subsequently attached 

 by a small, short pedicel to the hairs of her legs, where they are kept 

 in constant motion. Artificial impregnation is therefore out of the 

 question, and in what way the eggs can be best developed,. whether in 

 connection with the parent or removed and reared in hatching jars, is 

 yet to be settled. Experiments are, however, in progress in this con- 

 nection, and the results will be published hereafter. 



The bulletins of the Fish Commission contain numerous articles on 

 this subject, and in the forthcoming quarto series an elaborate paper 

 by Mr. Eathbun will be found upon the past and present distribution, 

 statistics, &c., of this animal. Something may be done in the way of 

 multiplication of the species by transplantation, and an experiment has 

 lately been tried by the Commissioner in this direction. On August 

 24 of the present year one hundred live lobsters, partly with eggs, 

 were obtained through the assistance of Mr. B. G. Blackford, of New 

 York, and transported on the Fish Hawk from Fort Pond Bay, Long 



