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Knots (Tail As the eggs open the head)
the tail. As the eggs open the head and tail first boiled beef or horse-flesh, which is prepared for emerge, and then the umbilical vesicle attached to the belly of the fish, and there retained for some time, as the only source of nutriment.
In case the eggs in the hatching-box become covered with film from the impurity of the water, they should be cleansed with a feather, or with a fine brush of badger's hair.
The eggs may be transferred from one vessel to another by means of a glass pipe, the stem of which is closed by the finger. The egg is made to enter the tube by removing the finger.
The young fish very soon displays differences of nature and instinct. Some, like the pike and perch, quickly free themselves from the umbilical vesicle and shoot about with great vivacity. Others, as the salmon and trout, retain their provision bags longer, seem more sluggish, and huddle together in dark corners. Some kinds are so bold and hardy that they require but little care. The pike, for instance, and the trout, may very soon be put into ponds and rivers, where they will look out for themselves. But others, more delicate and often more valuable, must be kept in artificial basins until they have acquired strength to resist the destructive agencies that await them in the ravenous waters.
In a box less than 2 feet long, 6 inches wide and 4 inches deep, Prof. Coste has sometimes reared to a sufficient size for removal, no less than 2000 salmon at a time.
The basin used at the College of France may serve as a model for the receptacles above named.
It has different compartments for the fish of different ages. The wall is built waist-high, that the fish may be conveniently overlooked. Here and there, on the gravelly bed, are small heaps of rounded pebbles. Little shelters of earthenware are scattered about, that the fish may have dark places in which to hide and rest. A few aquatic plants are added to complete the conditions which would be found in nature. them by pounding in a mortar. These delicate morsels are eagerly seized by the young fish.
After 8 or 10 days the boiled flesh is exchanged for raw, which is pounded and given in little pellets. At Hummingue, salmon and trout are fed with the flesh of other and cheaper fish, which is prepared for them by pounding. Small earthworms and the minute crustacea of stagnant waters are sought with avidity by these young fry. For the proper acclimation of fishes, and for other reasons, it is often desirable to transport the eggs to a considerable distance. When the eggs are free and separate, with a tough covering, as in the case with the salmon and the trout, pine boxes are used. These are filled with sand or moss, or fragments of sponge, or with some aquatic plant, in the moist folds of which the eggs are ranged in layers.
The eggs, which come in agglutinated clusters, with tender envelopes, such as the spawn of the carp, the roach, the perch, etc., cannot be conveyed so easily. The best method is to put them into jars three-quarters filled with water and containing some aquatic plant. There is another class of eggs which are deposited upon grass or small sticks. Let these, with the objects to which they adhere, be wrapped up in a wet cloth, and then be put into a box or basket.
The young fish also are often transported to great distances in bottles containing water and some living aquatic plants. The water must be renewed from time to time. To keep up the supply of air, which fishes must have, no less than animals which live in it, an ingenious apparatus has been devised by some fishermen of the Vosges. The vessel which holds the fish is swung at the back in the style of the rag-picker. A bellows, like that of the Scotch bagpipe, worked under the arm, sends at pleasure its current of air through the water that contains the fish. An occasional squeeze of the bellows keeps the fish in The salmon, the trout and the eel, are fed upon | good breathing condition.