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ing all kinds of fresh-water fish. Although, as we have alrea- 

 dy stated, this curious art was evidently known to the ancients, 

 as also to certain savans who flourished about a century ago ; 

 still, to these two unlettered fishermen we must accord the same 

 credit as if their discovery of the artificial process had been the 

 original one. When they commenced the practice of this art, 

 they were in utter ignorance of its ever having been practised 

 before. These men lived at La Bresse, an obscure French vil- 

 lage in the department of the Vosges. This district is rich in lakes 

 and streams, and includes the Moselle and its tributaries, which 

 are famed for trout, the supply of which was at one time so con- 

 siderable as to form a very large portion of the food of the sur- 

 rounding community. The experiments of Gehin and Remy 

 were crowned with almost instant success ; aild to encourage 

 them to make still greater efforts, the SocUU d' Emulation des 

 Vosges voted them a considerable sum of money and a hand- 

 some bronze medal. It was not, however, till 1849 that the 

 proceedings of Gehin and Remy attracted that degree of notice 

 which was demanded by their importance, economic and scien- 

 tific. Dr Hazo, of Epinal, then communicated to the Academy 

 of Sciences at Paris an elaborate paper on the subject, which at 

 once fixed attention on the labour of the two fishermen — in fact, 

 it excited a sensation both in the Academy and among the peo- 

 ple. The government of the time at once gave attention to the 

 matter ; and finding, upon inquiry, everything that was said 

 about the utility of the plan to be true, resolved to have it 

 extended to all the rivers in France, especially to those of the 

 poorer districts ; and at once made offers of employment to the 

 two fishermen, through whose exertions many of the finest 

 livers in the country have since been stocked with fish. 



" The system has since extended to Spain, Holland, Great Bri- 

 tain, and many other countries. As shewing the extent to which 

 artificial hatching is carried on in other countries, we may state 

 that the reservoirs, breeding-places, and other suitable construc- 

 tions of the government establishment at Basel, occupy a space 

 of about twenty-five acres of ground, devoted to the propagation 



