86 THE NEW ART OF BREEDING FISH. 



This fact was fully established by Coimt de Gold- 

 stein, about the middle of the last century, long be- 

 fore Spallanzani published his beautiful researches 

 upon generation. In 1758 this judicious observer 

 addressed to an ancestor of the celebrated Fourcroy, 

 a most interesting memoir upon artificial fecundation 

 of trout's eggs, and upon the application to stocking 

 rivers of which the discovery was susceptible. 



An extract from Goldstein's work was inserted 

 in a work called Soirees Helvitiennes, and some years 

 later, in 1770, Duhamel du Monceau gave a transla- 

 tion of it -in the third volume of his Traite general 

 des Piches, published under the sanction of the Aca- 

 demy of Sciences. 



to the Institute in 1848 ; -while on the other hand, when the letter 

 ■which I addressed to that learned body on the 2d March, 1849, 

 was read by M. Flourens it was received, according to the testi- 

 mony of the Abb6 Moigno, who was present at the meeting, with 

 the most unequivocal demonstrations of surprise and satisfaction 

 on the part of all the members of the Academy of Sciences. M. 

 Milne-Edwards was then immediately appointed as one of the 

 commission to examine my report in conjunction with Messrs. Du- 

 m6ril and Valenciennes. How does it happen that he did not 

 then inform his colleagues that the matter had been long before 

 known? How was it that he did not then and there announce 

 that not only the processes of artificial fecundation had been very 

 many years before described by Goldstein, by Buhamel du Monceau, 

 and by Jacobi, but that they had been successfully practised in 

 Scotland ? W hy did he wait, before making any sueli statements, 

 until after he was officially charged by the Minister of Agriculture 

 and Commerce, to go to the place and examine the resulis of the labors 

 of the two Vosgian fishermen ? We leave all such reflections aa 

 these to the sense of the reader." 



