184 TRANSACTIONS LIVERPOOL BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



" Memorandum sent to the Chairman of the Lancashire 

 Sea-Fisheries Committee, for the use of the Scientific 

 Sub-Committee, by Prof. W. A. Herdman, in October, 

 1897, on an 



" Outline Scheme of Work for the Piel Sea-Fish 

 Hatchery. 



" I think that the Institution at Piel, although it may 

 serve several useful purposes, ought to be regarded as 

 primarily for the hatching of sea-fish and Lobster eggs, 

 and for experiments upon the further rearing of young 

 sea-fish and upon the life history of shell-fish. That is, 

 the economic work ought to be regarded as of first-rate 

 importance, and nothing else ought to be allowed to 

 interfere with it. Mr. Scott ought to be instructed to 

 give his whole attention to making the hatching and 

 rearing a success. In my visit to America this summer, 

 I made a careful study of the methods of the United States 

 Fish Commission, at their two celebrated Hatcheries, at 

 Woods Holl and at Gloucester. In each case the Insti- 

 tution is under the charge of a resident " Superintendent," 

 who gives his whole time and attention to making the 

 hatching and rearing a practical success. These men try 

 to perfect every little detail of the cheese cloth in the 

 hatching boxes, of the jets of water, of the cleansing of 

 the boxes, the removal of dead ova, of the distribution of 

 the fry, and so on — the little details upon which the 

 economic results depend. Kesearch and teaching are left 

 entirely in other hands, and are carried on for the most 

 part in other Institutions, such as the Biological Labor- 

 atory at Woods Holl and the Central Institution in 

 Washington . 



" I would propose, however, that the Piel Hatchery be 



