15 
able in nearly every case to jndge of the sex of the oyster 
before I had made use of the microscope. 
In order to fertilize the eggs, all that is necessary is the 
mixture of the ripe eggs with a little of the ripe male fluid in 
a drop of water. If the point of a knife-blade be dipped 
in the fluid from a female and touched to a glass slide, and 
then dipped into the fluid of a male and touched to the same 
part of the slide, and a drop of sea water be added, to cause 
the two to meet, most of the eggs will be fertilized, and their 
early stages of development can be studied in a single drop 
of water, but to secure the fertilization and healthy develop- 
ment of large numbers of eggs, several precautions are neces- 
sary, as well as a few instruments and pieces of apparatus. 
The following is a list of the things needed for procuring, 
fertilizing and hatching the eggs : A pair of sharp-pointed 
scissors ; a pair of small forceps ; half a dozen watch crystals ; 
a set of about half a dozen glass beakers, or tumblers, of dif- 
ferent sizes, from half a pint up to half a gallon ; two or three 
dipping tubes, or glass tubes six or eight inches long, open at 
both ends, but with one end drawn out to a tine point ; a 
small glass or rubber siphon for drawing the water out of the 
beakers. For tracing the development of the eggs, a micro- 
scope, magnifying at least one hundred diameters, and half a 
dozen glass slides and thin glass covers are wanted. 
After the oysters have been opened, and at least one ripe 
male and one ripe female found, cut off the mantle lobes and 
,gills of the male with the scissors, close to the visceral mass, 
and tear them out with the forceps and throw them away. 
Cut around the adductor muscle with the scissors, so that the 
visceral mass may be lifted out of the shell and transferred to 
-a small saucer or to a watch crystal. Holding the visceral 
mass with the forceps, cut out with the scissors as much as 
possible of the digestive organs and liver and throw them 
away, and then chop up the reproductive organs with the 
scissors, picking out and throwing away any fragments of the 
liver, digestive organs, mantle or gills which may present 
Themselves. In order to have the young oyster thrive, the 
