NOTES FROM THE MARINE LABORATORY. 
Hatching Waste Ova. — In February a series of glass vessels 
were prepared for carrying on the experiments in hatching which 
were referred to in the report for last year. Neither the fishery 
officer nor the late laboratory fisherman were able, however, to get 
any material wortli reporting upon for making experiments. Two 
boxes of bottles were sent to Shields with instructions ; one of 
these was returned empty, the other has not yet been sent back. 
The fisherman did make an attempt, however, and obtained a 
quantity of cod’s ova from a fish just about ripe and attempted to 
fertilize it on the 22nd March. The fish were caught on the 20th ; 
on the 28th the eggs were all found to be dead, and evidently not 
fertilized. This goes to show at anyrate that the period that may 
elapse after the death of the parent fish to ensure success in hatch- 
ing must be less than two days. The fisherman again, on April 1st, 
got some spawn from a live trawled cod but did not manage to 
get it fertilized. I visited North Shields myself on the 20th of the 
same month, but could only find spawned fish. 
On account of the interest which the problem has awakened 
and its practical bearing, I hope that we shall be able to make 
experiments enough early next year to report fully as to the 
conditions which limit utilizing the waste ova of the markets. 
Craiss. — On October 28th, 1808, eight female crabs were sent 
from Beadnel, by Mr. J. Douglas. Four were dead on arrival. 
One was found to be fully “ berried ” on November 3rd, but it died on 
November 7th. Another of the crabs, also found dead on the 7th, 
had commenced to spawn ; there were a few patches of ova on the 
tail. The remaining two crabs were then separated, one of these 
was found on November 26th to have deposited her spawn in a 
corner of the tank, which was a very curious action indeed, if a 
disappointing one. The two crabs were kept until 24th March, 
when both were found dead. Both presented spawned ovaries. 
The last one, therefore, appears to have been a female which had 
hatched out in the summer of 1898, and would not have been 
ready to spawn until the end of 1899. The two crabs which 
spawned normally and the third which deposited her ova in such a 
curious mauner, go to show then that the spawning period for this 
species begins in November. 
