CHAPTER I. 
THE ART AMONG THE ANCIENTS. 
Nee, SS is ° MONG the many arts 
founded on pure phi- 
losophy peculiar to 
China, we find that 
of propagating fishes 
by artificial means to 
have been practiced 
there for many cen- 
turies, as is proven 
by their works, and 
the intimate knowl- 
edge of the art pos- 
sessed by so many 
of the inhabitants of 
the Celestial Empire. 
Father Duhalde, one of the earliest missionaries from 
France to China, was the first to reveal to the Christian 
world that the inhabitants of China might teach those of 
Europe the art of water-farming. “In the great River 
Yang -tse-kiang,” said Father Duhalde, “not far from the 
city Kieou-king-fou, of the province iang-si, at certain sea- 
sons of the year there assemble great numbers of vessels for 
conveying away the fecundated eggs of fishes. Throughout 
the month of May the river is barred at short intervals for 
sixty miles with interlacings of osier and bulrushes, leaving 
barely sufficient space for the passage of barks or double 
chaloupes, with lateen sails, which are engaged in transport- 
ing ova.” The reticulated weirs of osier and bulrushes are 
close enough to catch and retain the ova, and the vendor 
