' TRANSPLANTING OF LOBSTERS TO THE PACIFIC COAST. 459 
j 
,1 It bad on board 180 gallons of ocean water, but this was to be used only in part for 
I the lobsters, there being also several other species of salt-water fish. Omaha was 
reached on the sixth day out, at which time only forty lobsters remained alive. Just 
after leaving Omaha, however, a serious accident happened to the train, and the special 
I car with its contents was precipitated into the Elkhorn River. The first attempt, there- 
^ fore, ended in misfortune, but even with the crude method of handling the lobsters 
which was followed, one-fourth of the total number was carried safely during a period 
of time which in the present days of rapid travel would have taken the car nearly to 
San Francisco. 
SECOND TRIAL— JUNE, 1874. 
The second trial took place just a year subsequent to the first one, the car leaving 
Charlestown, New Hampshire, June 4, 1874. This shipment was made by Mr. Stone 
under the sole auspices of the California State Fish Commission. As in the first 
instance, the consignment consisted of a number of Eastern species, from both salt 
and fresh water, there being one hundred and fifty specimens of lobsters, all of which 
were adult females, bearing eggs. Two lobsters were planted in Great Salt Lake, on 
the way, and only four reached San Francisco alive. The following account of the 
manner in which the lobsters were cared for is abstracted from the report of Mr. M. L. 
Perrin, assistant to Mr. Stone : * 
The lobsters were obtained in Boston, of Messrs. Johnson & Young, and were 
shiijped to Charlestown, New Hampshire, June 3, on a special car. They were packed 
in seven pine boxes, each of which measured 3^ feet long, 15 inches wide, and 15 inches 
deep. A horizontal partition divided the boxes into two compartments, an upper and a 
lower, making two tiers, in each of which, except one, eleven lobsters were stored, being 
laid directly upon the wooden bottoms, with a packing of sponges over and around 
them. The ocean water was transported from Boston to Charlestown in six casks, con- 
taining 149 gallons each, or 894 gallons in all. This water was obtained outside of 
Boston Harbor, and upon arriving at Charlestown was mostly transferred to two salt- 
water tanks on board the aquarium car. These tanks were made of hard wood and 
were smeared with a mixture of resin and tallow in order to render them water-tight. 
During a part of the journey they were used for salt-water fishes, and one of the 
original casks of sea- water was therefore carried on the car intact, to serve for the 
lobsters during the latter part of the journey. 
In preparing for the trip to Charlestown the sponges were wet with salt-water, 
and then so packed around the lobsters that the latter were completely hidden. Dur- 
ing the trip salt-water was poured upon the lobsters and the sponges were again sat- 
urated. At Charlestown, on the morning of June 4, the day of starting on the long 
journey, the lobsters were all repacked in twelve boxes, subdivided into twelve com- 
partments, each of which was just large enough to admit one lobster, and about G 
inches deep. There were no covers to the boxes, and each compartment had an auger 
hole bored in the bottom to furnish drainage. Wet straw was laid upon the bottom 
under the lobsters, which were then covered with sponges as in the first instance. 
The boxes were stacked against the side of the car in two piles of six boxes each. 
The lobsters were examined twice a day. The sponges were removed and squeezed 
* Report U. S. Fish Commissioner, Part III, 1873,-74, 1874-75,. p. 259. 
