206 TRANSACTIONS LIVERPOOL BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



which were again successfully fertilized, and this partially 

 replaced the lost lot, but it was noticed that this second set 

 were not quite so mature as the previous ones, and the eggs 

 did not run so freely from the parent fish. During the 

 succeeding haul the entire net was carried away, and 

 there being no spare one on board, we had, therefore, to 

 return to Piel with only a small quantity of fertilized eggs 

 as the result of two days' fishing. 



" The police boat was awaiting our arrival outside the 

 harbour, but the sea was too rough to board, so the 

 ' Harriet ' had to bring us inside. Once inside the 

 harbour, the embryos were conveyed ashore and trans- 

 ferred to the tanks without further loss of time, the dead 

 ones being first carefully removed. The embryos floated 

 quite freely upon the surface of the water, and develop- 

 ment followed its natural course, as could be seen by 

 frequently examining the embryos under the microscope. 



" Probably owing to the eggs not being quite mature 

 when obtained, and to injuries received subsequent to 

 fertilization, a considerable daily mortality took place 

 amongst the embryos, and at the end of nearly 200 

 hours after fertilization, all had died and sunk to the 

 bottom of the tanks. 



"During the whole time that the embryos were under 

 observation, the temperature and specific gravity of the 

 water was taken daily. The temperature varied from 

 5'8° C. to 6° C, and the specific gravity from -23 to *24. 

 Although we were not fortunate in having the embryos 

 hatch out at this stage of the experiment, it was clearly 

 demonstrated that the specific gravity of the Piel water 

 was sufficiently high to keep the eggs afloat. 



"At this point I had to return to Liverpool, but Mr. 

 Wright, chief bailiff, was left in charge of the place with 

 instructions to endeavour to obtain more fertilized eggs at 



