150 APPENDIX. 



had been opened, and their contents examined, it 

 was seen that the condition of the Ova varied 

 greatly in the different packages. 



While in some the greater portion of the Ova 

 still retained their vitality and healthy aspect, in 

 others nearly every one had perishedi 



After some further opportunity of observation, it 

 was perceived by Mr. Ramsbottom and the Com- 

 missioners present, that a close and almost un- 

 varying relation existed between the fate of the Ova 

 and the condition of the moss in which they were 

 enveloped. 



Where the moss retained its natm-al green hue 

 and elasticity, there a large proportion of the Ova 

 retained a healthy vitality. Where, on the contrary, 

 the moss was of a brown colour, and in a collapsed 

 or compressed form, few of the Ova were found 

 alive, and all were more or less entangled in a net- 

 work of fungus. 



The Commissioners cannot, therefore, help sus- 

 pecting that the condition and quantity of the moss 

 in which the Ova were imbedded in each small box 

 greatly influenced their health and vitality. Messrs. 

 Allport and Eamsbottom, by whom the chief pai-t 

 of the Ova were transferred from the packing-boxes 

 to the Ponds, assured the Commissioners that the 

 smallest amount of mortality was invariably found 

 to have taken place in those boxes in which the 



