SEA-FISHEKIES LABOEATOEY. 195 



On April 26th the Witches began to move inside the 

 egg covering, on the 27th the Lemon Soles were wriggling, 

 and on the 28th both hatched out, eight and a half days 

 after fertilization of the eggs. 



Mr. Scott went to Piel at the beginning of March for a 

 couple of months in order to test the water there by 

 seeing how the keeping of various marine animals and 

 the hatching of spawn compared with our experiences at 

 Port Erin. I give further on (p. 29) Mr. Scott's report 

 to me upon his work at Piel, from which it is obvious 

 that, although some measure of success was obtained 

 in temporary premises under " make-shift " arrangements, 

 the work was greatly hampered by the large amount of 

 sediment in the water. We hope that the storage tanks 

 and filter, which have now been established at the Piel 

 Hatchery, will remove this difficulty, and will render the 

 water more like that at the south-end of the Isle of Man, 

 where no filtering is necessary. 



We hope, then, in the present season, with a continuous 

 supply of water, the larger tanks, filter, and more efficient 

 apparatus altogether, to conduct the hatching work more 

 successfully, and to deal with much greater quantities of 

 eggs. When, however, the little fish is hatched out, only 

 half the work — and that probably by far the easier part — 

 is done. I think it most important that we should make 

 all possible attempts to rear the fry through their larva] 

 and post-larval stages, as far as possible, before setting 

 them free in the sea. For this purpose other tanks, 

 besides the hatching ones, will be necessary ; and shallow 

 ponds in the open air, or enclosed areas of the sea shore, 

 would be a great advantage. The most suitable food, 

 whether natural — such as diatoms, copepoda, and the 

 like — or artificial, for each stage, will have to be ascer- 



