14 TRANSACTIONS LIVERPOOL BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY 



Eggs collected. 



Date. 



Larvae set free. 



Date. 



619,000 ... 



April 5 and 6 



441,000 ... 



„ 21 



331,000 ... 



„ 7 



257,000 ... 



„ 22 



1,063,000 ... 



„ 8 and 9 



849,000 ... 



„ 24 



683,000 ... 



„ 12 and 13 



520,000 ... 



„ 26 



194,000 ... 



» 14 



142,000 ... 



„ 27 



957,000 ... 



„ 15-20 



667,000 ... 



May 3 



9,325,500 



7,124,500 





"A few thousands of additional fertilised eggs were 

 collected on April 28th and May 10th ; but the resulting 

 larvae were retained in the hatchery for scientific observa- 

 tion and experiment. 



*' The Curator regrets to say that, in spite of continued 

 efforts and experiments on new lines, the problem of 

 artificial lobster rearing remains practically unsolved. 

 The initial difficulty — that of obtaining berried female 

 lobsters with nearly ripe eggs — was greatly felt during 

 the past season, and the total number of larvae hatched did 

 not reach 1,500. A wooden tank measuring 6x6x4 feet, 

 with openings screened with wire gauze in the sides and 

 bottom, was fixed in the western spawning pond, and an 

 attempt was made to rear in it a number of lobster larvae. 

 This, in spite of abundant food material and liberal 

 aeration of the water, proved a failure, none of the 

 larvae surviving the third stage of development. Mr. W. J. 

 Ashburner, who made the tank, has further provided an 

 apparatus for keeping the water therein in constant 

 motion, and with this further experiments are to be made 

 next summer. There is evidence that berried lobsters will 

 retain their eggs if kept in the pond and provided with 

 suitable hiding places; and the Curator is now 

 accumulating a stock in the hope of ensuring a large 

 number of larvae next year. 



