75 



It is a coincidence at least worthy of notice, that with 

 both species the embryos have disappeared at about the 

 same stage of development. * 



All published accounts of the development of the Euro- 

 pean oyster agree in asserting or assuming that the im- 

 pregnation of the ova occurs while they are either within 

 the ovaries or shell of the parent, and that consequently 

 artificial fertilization is impossible ; this supposition my 

 experiment effectually disproves. Again, should the 

 artificial fertilization of the eggs and subsequent care of 

 the embryo of the American species reach such a state of 

 perfection as to make the process an addition to oyster 

 culture, and one of practical imj)ortance, the agreement 

 of the European species with our own in the early stages 

 of development, will indicate a method by which the 

 supply of oysters may be increased in localities whose 

 need is even now far greater than our own. 



In conclusion, I must express my indebtedness to the 

 paper of Dr. Brooks upon the development of the Ameri- 

 can oyster, to which I have alluded, and without which 

 I should have been somewhat at a loss for a means of 

 registering the various changes which I witnessed in the 

 development of the European oyster. 



' Respectfully, FRANCIS WINSLOW, 



Master U. S. NwDy. 



U. S. 8Mp ^^ Saratoga^'''' at Sea-, July btJi^ 1880. 



