3G 
taken out and placed on the gravel trays, when they revived consider¬ 
ably, and sustained life considerably longer than those which had 
been originally placed on the trays. That led the salmon com¬ 
missioners of Tasmania, of which body he was chairman, to make up 
their minds t<5 try the experiment of bringing out the ova in that 
way. They accordingly sent homo young Mr. Itamsbottom to spend 
the first winter and succeeding summer in experimenting upon that 
plau, and ho was cordially assisted by friends in London—amongst 
tilers by Mr. James Youl, in the work; and by the kindness of 
proprietors of ice-houses, boxes suitable for the purpose were 
obtained. These boxes were examined at intervals of a month, and 
the experiments at first ranged from thirty up to forty-four days, 
and they were found to be quite successful, and in each case the ova, 
under proper treatment, gave birth to the living fish. The last 
experiment was made with ova which had been kept in boxes for a 
period of 144 days, and it was also a success. It would appear 
therefore, he thought, that the difficulty which had hitherto Btood in 
their way had at length been got over, and that the ova when next 
despatched from the old country would reach their shores alive and 
in health. The expensive and cumbrous machinery before made use 
of would be finally abandoned, and instructions to that effect had 
been given. The ice-house in which the next batch of ova would be 
brought out would contain fifty tons of solid ice; and the boxes con¬ 
taining the ova would be placed in that house, and it would remain 
unopened until the vessel reached Tasmania. It had also been 
provided that the ship should sail from England at a time which 
would enable her to land her freight in the colder weather, since it was 
essential to the success of the experiment that the temperature to 
which they were at first exposed should differ as little as possible 
from that of the English waters. He had now to thank the associa¬ 
tion of Victoria, for the aid they had given the Tasmanian society in 
obtaining a grant of .£500 from the Government here in aid of their 
operations: and both by the association and by the Government 
the application of the Tasmanian society had been promptly 
responded to. There coidd be little doubt, he thought, that the 
salmon would do well in Tasmania ; and any one who had visited 
the sparkling rivers there must almost have expected to find them 
inhabited by large numbers of these monarchs of the river. They 
had all the peculiarities of Scottish rivers, and it was impossible to 
doubt that the salmon would find a congenial home in them. He 
would only add that he heartily wished the association every success 
in their future efforts. (Applause.) 
