Mat 25, 1889. | 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



331 



pounds. The name "devil-Ash" is applied to a large verte- 

 brate belonging to the ray family, and closely related to the 

 skates. It is the. Oepatojrtsra vampirun, Mitch'. Gill., and not 

 at, nil related to Hugo's monstrous octopod. 



Sturgeon Roe as Bait.— Philadelphia, May 14.— 

 Our anglers who can abide that most filthy' of all 

 bait— sturgeon roe— have begun its use in the capture 

 of the rock or striped bass, which runs up our rivers 

 every spring with the shad and sturgeoo. It was al- 

 ways a mystery to me how sueh bait could be kept on the 

 hook. The anglers who use it can be seen at earlv 

 morn wending their wav to Dock street wharf — where 

 the sturgeon boats land and clean their fish— for a day's 

 supply of this strong yet taking lure. At the wharf at Dock 

 Street, where much or the offal from the sturgeon cleaned 

 there is thrown into the Tiver, large schools of both perch 

 and small rockflsh are attracted, and the place has become 

 a favorite one for these roe-bait anglers. — Homo. 



The TJ, S. Fish Commission.— By the burning of the 

 hotel at Wood's HoJl, Mass., which was occupied last sum- 

 mer by the United States Fish Commission, it is probable 

 that the commission will not rendezvous there, this year, as 

 was expected. Another locality is now being looked up, 

 which will not only allow the taking of specimens and the 

 study of fish, but will also give lodgment for the stall of 

 Scientific experts attached to the commission. It is probable 

 that Greeuport. the extreme northeastern point of Long 

 Island, may be the place selected for the work to be accom- 

 plished this year, 



A Swallow on tile Fly.— New York, May 30.— While 

 fishing on the waters of the Arnityville Club, yesterday, I 

 noticed that a bam swallow took a great interest' in my flies, 

 following the cast and hovering over the water where they 

 fell; it kept this up for several minutes and at last took the 

 second dropper, a "Beaverkill,'' in the air. It fluttered about 

 sometimes in the air and sometimes in the water. I reeled if 

 in and landed if, and it is now at Mr. Bell's, being mounted 

 with the fly in its bill, just as it was caught,— W. Holbeh- 

 ton. 



Information Wanted.— We have been troubled to recall 

 which of the famous opera singers who have visited this 

 country it was that so resembled a shad. Our office boy 

 suggests Matilda Heron, but she was not a singer. We 

 thought at first that it might be Grisi, but there is little 

 adipose matter about the shad. It might be Alboni, but 

 perhaps some reader can correct us if wrong. 



The "Blt;e Cat" of Tro^vs.— Concerning this fish Prof. 

 Jordan writes us, for the information of our pleasant cor- 

 respondent, "N. A. T.," that it is the IcMurus fior.ot.un 

 instead of L pitndatua, as given in our issue of May 11. The 

 former has a smaller eye, placed further forward in its head 

 than the latter. Its head is small and its anal fin is much 

 longer than that of most catfishes. 



An Angling- Dog.— Warrenton, Va., May 13.— I have 

 just received information from our county treasurer that he 

 has a young hound dog that has the habit of fishing in a 

 stream near liis house. Yesterday the. hound brought to the 

 house a fish caught by him and measuring some ten or twelve 

 inches in length. — B* H. D, 



Chamhersbvhio. — The bass fishing resort alluded to in 

 our issue of April 20 is on the Potomac River, thirty miles 

 from Chambersburg, and not at the latter town. 



Moobehead Lake.— The ice passed out of the lake May 

 18, and the fishing season has opened. 



<§ ( w]\mUtivt< 



THE AMERICAN FISHCULTURAL ASSOCIATION. 



PROCEEDINGS ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 

 [CONTim'EDl . 



NOTES ON THE BREEDING, POOD AND CAUSE OP THE 

 GREEN COLOR OF THE OYSTER. 



BY JOHN A. RYDER. 



No rnollusk known to naturalists, it appears, is consumed in 

 such vast quantities as ournative oyster, the Ostrea virginiana 

 of systematic writers, hence the great economic importance 

 and* the scientific interest which it has recently awakened. It 

 is immeasurably superior in Havor, size, and vigor of growth 

 to the native oyster of Europe, and is simulated and ap- 

 proached only by one old continental form which I have seen 

 and which is probably the Ostrea rostralis ot Lamarck. The 

 first attempt made in the artificial impregnation of the eggs 

 of this noble mollusk was successful in' the hands of our 

 countryman, Professor W. K. Brooks, of John Hopkins Uni- 

 versity of Baltimore, who. in 1880, published a remarkable 

 memoir on the subject in the annual report of Major T. B. 

 Ferguson, one of the Fish Commissioners of Maryland, Pro- 

 fessor Brooks's triumph was, however, not as complete as 

 might have been desired, since his investigations have not vet 

 enabled us to propagate the oyster by purely artificial 

 methods, but his success was so much beyond what was at- 

 tained by Dr. Davaine in his attempts at the artificial fertiliza- 

 tion of the ova of the European oyster in 1851, thai Brooks's 

 achievement marks the most important era in the historv of 

 the subject. Others, as well as the writer, have repeated his 

 experiments with more or less success, and the latter has been 

 enabled to workout a portion of the developmental history 

 of Mini art'iinria, the common clam, "soft clam," "long clam'' 

 of the North, or "mana-nose," as it called further South, from 

 a rtitically impregnated eggs, 



An earnest, and it is to be. hoped, successful effort, is bein°- 

 made by the -United States and Maryland Fish Commissions 

 to introduce the most approved French methods into the 

 waters of Maryland, and to supplement these by even more 

 advanced processes, if practicable. The results of the obser- 

 vations and experiments of the writer during the lost two 

 years have been embodied, in part, in a report to the Maryland 

 Commissioner, T. B, Ferguson, for the year 18S1, which has 

 been favorably received. " Additional papers have been con- 

 tributed for the Fame report for 1882, and ,to the Bulletin of 

 the lb B. Fish Commissioner, bearing mainly upon the anat- 

 omy, finer structure and development of" the animal, An 

 imperfect list of the published works on the subject has also 

 been compiled bv the writer: a more complete catalogue em- 

 bracing its literature in all languages, will shortly be published 

 by the Dutch government. 



What has already been put upon record it will not be worth 

 whde to discuss, and we. will therefore recapitulate only when 

 necessary, adding new facts not yet recorded. To om knowl- 

 edge of the early development of the animal we have added 



nothing, and the account as given by Brooks for the Ameri- 

 can, and Salensky, Gerbe, Fischer arid Davaine for the Euro- 

 pean species, With little qualification, remain the same. The 

 detachment of the ring or crown of vibratory filaments or 

 cilia from the. embryo oyster, as asserted by Davaine, has not 

 been confirmed by any other observer. Hatschek has lately 

 contributed some valuable researches in regard to the devel- 

 opment; of young bivalves, working, however, upon the young 

 ship-worm. His studies have no direct bearing upon the 

 development of the oyster, but t.hev nevertheless "throw con- 

 siderable light upon the mode of formation of the gills, upper 

 gill-chambers, liver, muscle, foot and nervous system of the 

 great group to which they both belong. Hatsehek's observa- 

 tions show that the conversion of a part of the velum or ciliary 

 crown above and below the mouth into palps and gills, as held 

 by Lankestcr, does probably not take place. The occurrence 

 of ciliary bands running from the. edge of the mantle on its 

 inner side to the mouth, as observed by the writer in "spat" 1 

 one-eighth of an inch in diameter, was supposed at first to 

 confirm Lankeste.r's view, but Hatsehek's researches have 

 made sueh an opinion untenable. The physiological function 

 of these bands was, however, clear; by the vibration of the 

 filaments composing them they establish cunents which hurl 

 the microscopic food of the surrounding water down into the 

 throat of the, young "spat," thus serving, in fact, the same 

 purpose as the velum adjoining the mouth of the " fry." 



Brooks has represented the freshly-laid ova of the oyster 

 with a spherical nucleus and nucleolus; the former is large 

 and clear, and is embedded near the center of the egg, arid in- 

 side of it the nucleolus is lodged somewhat to one side. I do 

 not find the latter spherical, as described, but formed as it' 

 composed of a larger and smaller highly refringent pair of 

 spheres, partly fused with each other, or cir the same form as 

 the nucleoli of the eggs of Anndonla as described by Flem- 

 ing, and somewhat similar to those of the slipper limpet. (Ore- 

 pidula glauea) as observed by the writer, Some very singu- 

 lar figures of the eggs of the European oyster in Poli's work, 

 published in 1195, renders it not improbable that he may have 

 seen this singularly-formed nucleolus, which seems to charac- 

 terize to a certain extent the eggs of bivalves. 



The ova are not all ripe in all cases at the same time in the 

 same ovarian follicle, The same condition of affairs is found 

 in the ovary of the oyster as was observed in Scrobioularia 

 by Von Jhering. that is, while some ova were mature, others 

 in the same follicle were still very immature. The condition 

 of the ovary varies considerably in different individuals; in 

 some cases the most of the ova are ripe at about the same 

 time, in others there is a greater difference between the time 

 of maturity of the different eggs of the same follicle. It is 

 al-'o frequently observed that a. portion of the generative or- 

 gans of the. same oyster are much more advanced toward ma- 

 turity than others. It is also found that when the oyster is 

 in its fullest spawning condition, the generative, organ forms 

 by far the greater proportion of the solid substance of the 

 visceral mass lying between the heart space and the head and 

 palps next the hinge; but the generative organs may be so 

 undeveloped in winter as to form only a very small propor- 

 tion of the substance of the visceral mass, arid are present 

 only as a fine reticulum or network of germinal cells. The 

 ovaries and spermaries are therefore never entirely wasted 

 away or atrophied, as would appear to the naked eye. 



The full, engorged appearance which is noticed when the 

 generative glands are full of ripe products is often due to a 

 distension of the ducts which lead away from the follicles, 

 and when this is the case, if the handle of a scalpel is gently 

 stroked over the distended duets over the side of the body 

 mass of the animal, as it lies in the shell, from the head end 

 toward the posterior portion, below the muscle, the ova, or 

 spermatozoa, as the case may be, can be forced out of the open 

 end of the outgoing generative canal into the upper gib or 

 branchial cavity into which the former opens on either side, 

 as described in the anatomical outline sketch given in my re- 

 port to the Maryland Commission for 1SS1, page 15. 



It has recently been asserted by some Dutch investigators 

 that the generative products were not discharged by way of 

 a single duct on either side of the animal, as described by'La- 

 caze-Duthiers. What anatomical grounds' these observers 

 have for this statement I do not know; they appear to have 

 been investigating the structure of the animal by means of sec- 

 tions or thin transverse slices, which thev have examined 

 microscopically. The simple experiment with a sexuaUy ripe 

 oyster, as described above, has invariably given the same re- 

 sult ; never more than a single opening was found on either 

 side. In every ease the eggs were readily forced out of the 

 ducts by gently stroking them with the handle of a smooth 

 pencil or scalpel, and they 'were never seen to issue at more 

 than one opening. So far, thin sections of the oyster, as ob- 

 served bv the writer, have not shaken his belief 'in the accu- 

 racy of the observations of Lacaze-Duthiers. There is no evi- 

 dence of the existence of three generative openings on either 

 side of the animal, as asserted by Davaine, nor is it worth 

 while to more than notice Home's error with regard to the 

 water-chamber above the gills, which he regarded as the ovi- 

 duct 



At the time the oyster is full of spawn the generative organ 

 completely envelops the viscera, (fiver, intestine and stom- 

 ach) except a small portion at the anal end of the intestine 

 and the head end of the visceral mass. All of the superficial 

 ducts trend toward and join directly or indireotly the main 

 duct on either side of the body, into which they pour their pro- 

 ducts as t ie latter are received from the immense number of 

 follicles in which they are matured. We may repeat that 

 at no tune do we find the generative organs quite undeveloped; 

 if they are not apparent to the eye' in winter, thin sections 

 show the duets and microscopic rudiments of germinal fol- 

 licles as a network of strands of minute germinal cells, which 

 traverse superficially in all directions the coarse connective 

 tissue miscalled the "fat," in which all of the visceral organs 

 of the animal are embedded. As the breeding season 

 approaches the minute germinal cells of this network: of rudi- 

 mentary reproductive cells commence to grow, until they at- 

 tain the development observed in the animal when full of 

 ripe spawn. Some investigations conducted under the aus- 

 pices of the Dutch government indicate that the structure of 

 the generative organs of the European oyster is not as ha.s 

 been supposed strictly follicular-, but that they mav rather be 

 regarded as a mass of anastomosing tidies of irregular caliber. 

 The complete proof of this has been developed by the writer 

 in the course of investigations carried out upon our native 

 oysters, in which the generative organs were very immature 

 during the winter season. Both Brooks and myself have 

 spoken of the generative follicles as though they had been 

 clearly made out: it now appears that we will be compelled 

 to modify our terminology somewhat, in the face of the fact 

 that I have, sections of the immature generative organ which 



' [bite it as a network of germinal cells, as well as sections 



li the mature organs which show a more or less distinct tubu- 

 lar si rueture opening toward the surface into the superficial 

 or surface outgoing canals. At the same time the tubes show 

 more or less extensive junction or anastomosis with each 

 other at certain points along their length, with a general 

 tendency to be disposed vertically to the surface of the- vfc 

 ceral mass. This arrangement reminds one somewhat of the 

 more or Jess parallel disposition of the seminal tubules of the 

 testicles or milt of fishes and higher animals. 



We will endeavor to use the terms "fry" and "spat" in such 

 a wav as to avoid confusion. As soon as the egg has devel- 

 oped far enough to move about by means of the tine motile 

 filaments with which it is partially covered, it may be con- 

 sidered to have reached the frv state of development, and to 

 have hatched, but it is to be borne in mind that an oyster egg 

 does not hatch in the same, sense as the egg of a chicken or 

 fish, that is, by breaking its egg shell or membrane, because 

 the oyster egg is without a membrane such as must be cast 



off in the act of hatching in the former cases. As soon as it 



has ceased to rove about in the water and has fastened itself 

 to some other fixed object, it has attained the style of 

 development known to ovstenuen by the term "spat."' 



Our researches (see Maryland Report, 1881) show that the 

 dimensions of the fry of tfie American oyster at the time of 

 its fixation when it becomes "spat" is about t-SO of an inch, 

 and that at that time, the valves are characterized by a very 

 remarkable symmetry, which is departed from as soon as the 

 growth of the shell 'begins in its new fixed position. The 

 manner in which the fry affixes itself to foreign objects has 

 not been learned, but it is very probable that this is accom- 

 plished by means of a larval bvssus. Such a conclusion 

 appeal's to be warranted from the fact that the young of most 

 of the allies of the oyster are provided with a byssus or 

 threads for their temporary anchorage, such as may' be seen 

 very strongly developed in the. adult salt-water mussel, the 

 numerous threads in this case being very strong, serving to 

 hold the animal very firmly to any support, if may have 

 chosen. 



All theorizing as to the mode of fixation aside, however, it 

 now becomes a question of the most profound importance for 

 us to endeavor by experiments to maintain artificially im- 

 pregnated oyster eggs alive for a long enough time after they 

 begin to swim so that they may attach themselves perma- 

 nently, The experiments of those, who have hitherto worked 

 upon the development of the oyster have shown us that this 

 does not yet appear possible. Various forms of apparatus 

 have been tried with indifferent success. The experiment of 

 using bibulous paper diaphragms through which sea-water 

 was allbWed to pass, at the same time not allowing the minute 

 eggs of the oyster to escape "with the former, was not found to 

 answer; the pores of the paper soon became clogged with fine 

 sediment so as to stop the flow of water and its renewal over 

 the eggs. Bolting cloth docs not have the meshes fine enough 

 to confine the eggs, besides it is expensive and not durable. 

 The use of a membrane of filtering paper between sin el e 

 thicknesses of fine, nickel-plated wire cloth, forming the bot- 

 tom of the hatching box, which is placed inside of another 

 box, in which the water was made to rise and fall alternately by 

 means of an intermittently active siphon of wide caliber, the 

 supply being carried into the outer box in a constant stream 

 through a smaller pipe. The oscillation of the water level in 

 the outer box so arranged was depended upon to change the 

 water in the inner boxes with the porous bottoms containing the 

 eggs. The same difficulty presented itself, however, and the 

 porous bottoms of the hatching boxes soon became impervi- 

 ous, owing to the swelling of the fibers of the paper, as well 

 as on account of the accumulation of slimy sediment in the 

 substance of the latter. The outflow from the inner boxes 

 was then impeded from the same cause, and as the siphon 

 emptied the outer box the water in the inner one would not 

 fall quickly enough to effect any considerable change. Here 

 our experiments have broken down completely, arid all the 

 results so far reached with sueh apparatus have not been of 

 sufficient value to make it desirable- to repeat them, although 

 conducted with the help of three different forms of ap- 

 paratus. 



Recently, Professor S. J. Smith, of Tale College, has suc- 

 ceeded in incubating the eggs of certain crustaceans in shal- 

 low plates without changing the water at all, but by simply 

 areating and keeping it in constant circulation bv ineans of 

 jets of air playing constantly upon its surface. This mode of 

 incubation appears to fulfil the requirements of the case fully, 

 as far as I can now see, and it will be of the greatest import- 

 ance to test this method at the earliest possible opportunity. 

 By its use we will be enabled to avoid the loss of eggs which 

 would follow from the use of any method in which there is a 

 current of water constantly running in and flowing out of the 

 incubating contrivance, besides we would avoid contact with 

 poisonous metallic surfaces, be enabled to keep down the 

 temperature of the water by slow evaporation and prevent 

 putrefaction by means of rapid oxidation. 



Should we be able to artificially incubate the eggs of the 

 oyster and keep them alive, until the time when the embryos 

 attach themselves to foreign objects we will have attained 

 sueh a success as will probably never be paralledinfishcuiture. 

 The artificial impregnation "of the eggs of the oyster may be 

 accomplished to the extent of thousands of riiillions; and 

 should it be found possible to keep these hosts of young alive 

 until they had passed certain critical periods of their embry- 

 onic existence we would have practically succeeded in adding 

 so many millions of spat to those already existing, from which 

 seed might lie supplied for the foundation of extensive, beds 

 where oysters had been previously unknown. 



Brooks, in carrying embryo oysters up to the sixth day of 

 their existence, encountered the same difficulties as those who 

 have repeated his experiments. If, as I have good evidence 

 for premising, when the young oyster ceases its Wandering 

 habits, its valves measure one-eightieth of an inch in their 

 longest diameter, we have yet to find out how old it is when 

 of this size. When we learn this, we will know how long it 

 will be necessary for us to keep the young in the incubating 

 apparatus. We can reach the answers to these questions only 

 by the use of the proper sort of hatchin j arrangement, in 

 which artificially impregnated eggs are used, being careful, of 

 course; to keep accurate records of the tune of impregnation 

 and the fluctuations of temperature o :th < air and yater 

 during the progress of the experi neats Facilities fo it-ie fry 

 to fix itself may be provided oy suspending strips .' nud, or 

 glass in the water, watching the result from day Co day. and 

 as some are seen to have attached themselves, tne transparent 

 slips may be transferred to the. stage, of the microscope for 

 examination to leam the nature of the attachment of the 

 embryo. 



With the finer questions of the anatomy of the embryos we 

 have little to do— in fact, I do not sec that they will help us 

 much in the comprehension of how the hatching' process is to 

 be conducted, which goes without saying, however, that the 

 experienced embryologist must be expected to determine 

 whether the development is progressing normally and health- 

 fully. When once we have achieved what has been indicated 

 above, the embryologists will have an abundance of oppor- 

 tunity to make out the finer details of structure; and fetus 

 remark here, in regard to the oyster, one of the most acces- 

 sible of animals, that much still "remains to be done bv both 

 the anatomist and embryologist. 



Whatever may be the form of the apparatus which will 

 finally he used in artificial oyster culture, it will also he ne- 

 cessary to provide some sort of cheap and effective method to 

 favor the attachment of the young fry. in the shape of some 

 substance or objects which may be transferred to nurseries 

 or cages in open water where it is to undergo further develop- 



uggest th 

 be graded tO the 

 mesh. What is mos 



lid he 



serve 



ight Size th 

 suitable, bin 



heap 

 ough 

 ever. 



Clean pebbl 

 material, which e; 

 screens of the propc 

 will have to be learned oy 



The sped ll merit of theproposed method of artificial culture 

 from the egg upward, would be that we could probably do 

 Without the cumbrous tiles, slates, etc.. covered with mortar, 

 used as cultch to a large extent m France. In fact, if > , ,i ■,., 

 tors are to be used at all after the French mode, it would 

 appear to the writer that it would be just as well to use Li 

 oyster shells and the cheapest possible materials strewn over 

 arable bottoms near productive spawning ovster beds, as is 

 pretty extensively practiced on the coastof 'New Fiie'land, 

 especially Connecticut, and to some extent in places on the. 

 Chesapeake Hay. 11 any considerable advance is to be made 

 in the. culture of the oyster this much is certain, that it is to 

 !je attained by a radical departure from the methods, some ot 

 which have been in use for over ten centuries. The older 

 methods are universally cumbrous, involving large out];. 

 labor in their practice, which is a serious item in their prac- 

 tical working in the United States, where labor is much more 



