88 Salmon at the Antipodes. 



CHAPTEE XI. 



FISH-HATCHING. 



We will suppose that the ova have been 

 obtained, and properly impregnated; the 

 hatching process next claims our attention. 

 The eggs must not be exposed to a dry atmos- 

 phere, under penalty of their destruction. In 

 still water they will perish for want of the 

 necessary supply of oxygen, which all living 

 things require to sustain the vital principle. 

 In moist air, or in a current of well-aerated 

 water, the process of incubation will go on 

 favourably. Although salmon and trout eggs 

 are usually hatched out in a stream of water, 

 this object can be attained equally well in 

 moist air; and if kept in moss, with a slight 

 drip of water to keep up the supply of moisture, 

 and if the temperature be not too high, they 

 will hatch out equally well without being put 

 in water at all. It must be remembered, how- 



