The Canadian Oyster. 151 



has a well-developed shell, and has only an adventurous- 

 life of 24 — 48 hours to undergo before settling down. 



It is far otherwise with the Canadian Oyster. The 

 eggs are very much smaller than those of its European 

 cousin, and they are discharged into the sea, and there 

 fertilized, and in 24 hours enter on their free-swim- 

 ming life. How long this lasts it is impossible at 

 present to say, but it must be a considerable time — a 

 fortnight at least — so that the young may in this time 

 travel very far from the parent. Prof. Brookes, of 

 Baltimore, who was the first to artificially rear the 

 larvae, was able to keep them alive for six days, and I 

 was able to repeat this experiment at Malpeque. At the 

 end of this period there is a well-developed shell, but 

 judgfng from the size of free-swimming larvae caught by 

 the tow-net, at least a week or ten days more must have 

 been required by these to attain their size, taking the 

 size of the artificially raised larvae as a point of 

 departure. 



It was my special object at Malpeque to determine 

 the time at which the Oyster became sexually mature, 

 as it is the object of the Government so to frame its regu- 

 lations as to protect the oyster during this period of its 

 existence. 



The summer of 1903 was a somewhat cool one in the 

 Maritime Provinces, so that it is possible that the period 

 of ripeness was unduly delayed, but however that may 

 be, the following were the facts which I determined. 

 When I commenced to take observations in the end of 

 July, only those oysters which inhabited the shallow 

 water at the depth of 1 — 2 fathoms were ripe. As August 

 progressed, those at Curtain Island at a depth of from 

 5 — 6 fathoms became ripe, and towards the end of the 

 month only the Oysters taken from the greatest depths 

 in Malpeque Bay were still emitting spawn; all the rest 

 were spent. During the latter part of the month the 

 waters were swarming with larvae which, from their 

 exact agreement in shape and appearance with the 

 larvae of the European Oyster, were doubtless the later 

 stages of the free-swimming young of the Malpeque 

 Oyster. It is evident then that the attainment of 



