THE CALIFORNIAN SALMON. 
103 
plan be adopted, no future shipments of English salmon 
ova can be sent, with any hope of results being obtained 
that will be anything like satisfactory. The voyage is now 
so much shortened by the great speed of the new line of 
fast steamers, that there is no danger of the ova hatching 
out on the voyage, even if the incubation be advanced to 
the stage when the half of the time required has elapsed. 
The damage done to the broken boxes did not injure the 
ova ; one of these boxes had a T on it, and the ova in it 
were no better than those in the others, showing that the 
difference was more in the ova than in the packing. 
On account of the high temperature of the waters at 
the time, I thought it better to leave the boxes of ova in 
the ice-house for two or three weeks — where the process of 
incubation would proceed slowly — until the heat of summer 
was over, when they were taken to Ercildoune and placed 
in the hatching boxes there. 
On examination of the ova it was found that only about 
200 looked as if likely to hatch, these being all out of one 
box which had been packed by Mr. Youl. After about 
a fortnight these commenced to hatch, and about 150 
fine healthy young fish were the result. These seemed 
to thrive well for a time, but after a few days became 
unhealthy, and commenced to die off without apparent 
cause. On a close examination I found that some 
iron pipes had been laid to carry the water through 
a dam, and these had been coated over with tar, as 
is usually done to prevent corrosion. I had this water 
at once cut off, and used only the spring water, 
which I had before refrained from using on account of its 
high temperature. The fish continued to die, but a few 
seemed to improve. They all continued to grow rapidly. 
Even those that showed evident tokens of being fatally 
attacked grew larger every day. The first symptom of the 
