1853] 



ORIGIN OF COAL-FIELDS. 



279 



by promoting the parturition of the female, and then that of the 

 irale, anil placing the eggs in the conditions most favorable for 

 their devL'iojiineiit; he had thus the happiness of seeing the 

 breeding of a certain number of trout, and noticed their pre- 

 serving under the \ enter a part of their eggs, and living during 

 some lime at the expense of the rest. 



But this was nut all. it was necessary to provide for the 

 ulterior preservation of the young animal by a practicable process. 

 'Ihe obs^-nre tisherinan, who hardly knew how to read, did not 

 yield befoi-e tliis ditiiculy: he set at work observing again; he 

 placed some frogs in the basin containing the young trout, judging 

 with reason that the spawn of these batrachians would be a re- 

 source for the spawn of the ti'out; he gave them also bits of veal 

 as they grew larger. But as these aliments, though successful, 

 would be too expensis'e, Reniy, not knowing of the existence of 

 the sciences of botany and chemistiy, contrived a process based 

 on one of the great lawsofi)atuie. He planted some herbivorous 

 fishes m the water which contained the carni\'0)'ous trouts, and 

 from this moment he had no more trouble with the raising of his 

 "eleves." lu the couise of six years, with very limited means, 

 Remv', who was in the interval tissociated with Gehin, had bred 

 several millions of salmon and trout. After he had been for si.\ 

 years thus preparing the living food for his fishes, M. Haxo, 

 made known his results to the Aeailemy of Sciences, and the 

 government 0}dered a fidl investigation into Remy's process. 

 Pisciculture was established in the basins of the canal of the 

 Rhone, on the Rhine at Luningue, in the department of the Up- 

 per Rhine, not under the direction of Reray or of Gehin, but of 

 M, Coste, who had succeeded in appropriating to hi's own profit 

 the labo)'s of the modest fisherman. A spirited dispute ensued, 

 which continues still, and has engaged several independent pens, 

 as MM. Haxo, Victor Meunier, the journal La Prcsse, the Abbe 

 Moigno, etc.. who defended the rights of the oppressed against 

 the despoiler. Justice will be done; Remy will receive a pension 

 as a national recompense. 



The following is briefly the method employed in this new 

 branch of industry. 'J'hrough M. Millet, Inspector of Forests, the 

 processes ;u'e become so simple that they can be executed by the 

 most inexpeiienced hands. The Adniinistration of the watei-s and 

 forests, is now organizing a regular service for effecting a re- 

 peopling of the watere of navigable streams. The apparatus of 

 M. Mdlet is placed in the hands of the fisli-keepers, and the living 

 alimenta.ty material will be manul'actured, so to speak, at all 

 points. The details which follow are taken from a work yet un 

 published on Millet's process, which I have seen in the course of 

 its preparation. 



Two boxes of lead, 1 meter long and 1 to 2 decimetere broad, 

 and 5 to 6 centimeters deep, are disposed in steps in the fire-place 

 of his apartments. Some frames or sieves of hair, flags or me- 

 tallic network, etc., contain the eggs. According to the species, 

 these eggs are immersed to a depth of one or several centimeters. 

 These frames may be withdrawn or replaced at will, by means of 

 tringies which support thera by pressing against the side of the 

 box. A reservoir of water, furnished with charcoal and gravel, 

 is near by, and turns into the box, drop by drop, filtered water, 

 furnishing about 2 or 3 litres of water per hour. The water is 

 thus always in motion, and it is only necessary to fill the reser- 

 voir each morning to keep the apparatus in action without super- 

 yision. 



The total expense of the establishment is but 6 francs. With 

 35 litres of water for six weeks, M. Millet has bred about 25,000 

 trout or salmon, and he expects to breed some millions of difler- 

 ent species in the couise of the year. 



In order to obtain the eggs from the female, M. Millet employs 

 neai-ly the process used by Remy and Gehin, He makes the 



eggs to pass out only as they are miture, leiving an interval of 

 two days between each opi/ratiun, thi-; cons stiug in passing the 

 finger 'lightly over the surf ice of the :;li !(> iieii of the female. 

 Another process consists in en 'lo-iing th^ fiiia'e in a cage with a 

 double bottom, formed of bars rather far ap irl ; llie iemales drop 

 their eggs by organic contrac'.i .n, and aid tlieuis 'Ives iu it by 

 rubbing'against the bars. The eggs lii!) ujiou the fi-anio. The 

 males jire^lien introduced, and often they fecundate at onre the 

 eggs, being incited to it by the piesence <jf the female and the 

 odor of the eggs; but if not so, it is provoked by slight friction, 

 as in the ejection of the eggs from the female. 



Another result of interest is, that M. Millet has caused trout 

 and like species which live in i-unning streams, to breed in stand- 

 ing waters, by causing some aquatic plants to grow in the water. 

 The species which 1 have seen employed, was the Lemna minor 

 (duck weed.) 



This experiment calls to mind the organic equilibrium of Mr. 

 Warrington. It is known that this chemist has for several yeai-s 

 kept in a glass vase full of water, a small aquatic menagerie, con- 

 sisting of a Valisneria spiralis, several fish, (species of Gasteros- 

 teus), and some aquatic univalves, without injuring the purity of 

 the water. It is seen that the carbonic acid and azotized pro- 

 ducts given out by the animals are absorbed by the plant, which 

 converts at the same time the carbonic acid into oxygen. The 

 debris of the plant serves as nutriment to the suails whose eggs 

 in their turn feed the fish. 



The process of M. Millet has been put in practice in several 

 places near Paris, and re-peopling the rivers has been al.ieady 

 begun. Contrary to the prescription of Remy and Gehin, who 

 nourished the young for some time^'on'^the sjiawn of irogs and 

 coagulated blood, after the pouch under the venter had disap- 

 peared, M. Millet commences the distribution of them whene\er 

 this period has arrived. The future will show whether the 

 method just mentioned is wise, or whether it will not be necessary 

 to return to the process of Remy, which consists in " sowing" 

 herbivorous fishes in the streams populated by the trouts. M. 

 Millet is still engaged in his labors, and we shall endeavour to 

 keep our readers acquainted with the progress of this new branch 

 of industry. 



On the Origin of Coal-Fields. 



By Sir Charles Lvell. 



The force of the evidence in favour of the identity in character 

 of the ancient coal-fields, with the deposits of modern deltas, has 

 increased, in proportion as they have been more closely studied. 

 They usually display a vast thickness of stratified mud and fine 

 sand without pebbles, and in them are seen countless stems, 

 leaves, and roots of terrestial plants, free for the most part from 

 all intermixture of marine remains, circumstances wdiieli imply 

 the persistency in the same i-egion of a vast body of fresh water. 

 This water is also charged like that of a great river with an in- 

 exhaustible supply of sediment, which had usually been trans- 

 ported over alluvial plains to a considerable distance from the 

 higher grounds, so that all coarser particles and gi-avel were left 

 behind. On the wdiole the phenomena imply the drainage and 

 denudation of a continent or large island, having within it one 

 or more ranajes of mountains. The ]jartial intercalation of brack- 

 ish water-beds at certain points is equally consistent with the 

 theory of a delta, the lower paits of which are always exposed 

 to be overflowed by the sea even where no oscillations of level 

 are experienced. 



The purity of the coal itself, or the absence in it of earthly 

 particles and sand throughout the areas of very great extent, is a 

 a fact which has naturally appeared very difficult to explain if 



