THE NEW AET OF BREEDING FISH. 67 



at Huningen, and at my laboratory in the College of 

 France. 



As early as 1849, as appears by a memoir on the 

 domestication of fish and the formation of ponds, I 

 had proved by actual experiments, that very young 

 fish could be fed upon the raw flesh of domestic ani- 

 mals, hashed, and that they would thrive and grow 

 rapidly on this diet. This result, which I had ob- 

 tained with young eels, confined by thousands in a 

 very small space, I tried with salmon and trout. 

 The muscular, raw flesh of full-grown animals, hash- 

 ed up and pounded in a mortar till it was the con- 

 sistency of pap, being given to them, I have observed 

 them seize the isolated fragments and devour them 

 with avidity. I had thus the certainty that this 

 species of food suited them, and that I could bring 

 up in a small space, as I had done with eels, a very 

 large number of newly-hatched salmon and trout. 



The operation of reducing muscular raw flesh to 

 minute fibrous particles, small enough to be readily 

 swallowed by exceedingly little fish, is one that de- 

 mands considerable time ; and the further difficulty 

 of separating and properly dispersing in the water 

 the compact mass of flesh resulting from this opera- 

 tion, led me to seek some more expeditious mode of 

 feeding. 



To Mr. Chantrant, under whose charge is the 

 hatching apparatus of the College of France, is due 

 the idea of replacing raw by cooked meat. This 

 substitute has had all the success I hoped for, and 



