458 SALMON AND TROUT. 
compartments of the same trough, and counted out in batches 
of one or more thousands, ready to send away at the right time, 
and at a moment’s notice. 
Nature has provided the young fish with the ‘ umbilical sac,’ 
which supports them for about six weeks: this gradually be- 
comes smaller, until it is finally absorbed into the system. 
The newly-hatched fish is a perfect marvel of construction, 
and can beseen to perfection in a drop of water under a micro- 
scope at a low power. Every organ is shown distinctly; the 
colouring of the skin and the circulation of the blood through 
the whole system is plainly visible. Buckland writes, ‘The foot 
of a frog is pretty enough, but is no more to be compared to the 
young fish than a schoolboy’s daub to one of Sir Edwin Land- 
seer’s pictures.’ 
REARING OF THE FRY. 
While the young fish are in the ‘ Alevin’ stage, there is but 
little to be done in the hatchery ; almost all that is necessary is 
to keep the water constantly running in a slightly larger volume 
and to remove the few fish which may die. During this period 
I prepare for sending them away by removing them to a large 
shallow tank capable of containing fifty or sixty perforated zinc 
trays, each holding a thousand or two. Overcrowding is 
thus avoided, and the fish are at hand at a moment’s notice. 
In about six weeks after hatching, the umbilical sac is com- 
pletely absorbed, and the young fish require food. 
L. Stone says concerning the rearing of Fry, ‘Here, the 
triumphant skill which hatched the eggs successfully was baffled, 
and it seemed for a time as if the wonderful art which had 
promised so much was to come to a stand-still at this gulf 
between the eggs and the yearling trout, a gulf which seemed 
as if it could not be bridged. . . . The question is not now, 
“Can young trout be raised ?” but “ How many can do it, and 
under what circumstances can it be done successfully 2”? 
Feeding artificially in ‘ rearing boxes’ is, in my opinion, an 
