The system of artificial fecundation has likewise been tried in Ireland. Two English gentlemen of capital and enterprise, Messrs. Ashworth, of Egerton Hall, near Bolton, having purchased the fishery of Lough Corrib, were determined, if possible, to solve the much-discussed question "Can the salmon-fisheries of this kingdom be restored to their former abundant state of productiveness ?" Mr. Ramsbottom, of Clitheroe, was engaged by these gentleman to conduct the experiments, which were made as follows, and are des cribed by Mr. Halliday in his letter to the commissioners of fisheries in Ireland, a passage of which we beg to quote: voted them a considerable sum of money | to conduct experiments at Chatsworth and and a handsome bronze medal. It was many other places. not, however, till 1849 that the proceedings of Gehin and Remy attracted that degree of notice which was demanded by their importance, economic and scientific. Dr. Haxo, of Epinal, then communicated to the Academy of Sciences at Paris an elaborate paper on the subject, which at once fixed attention on the labor of the two fishermen, in fact, it excited a sensation both in the Academy and among the people. The government of the time at once gave attention to the matter; and finding, upon inquiry, everything that was said about the utility of the plan to be true, resolved to have it extended to all the rivers in France, especially to those of the poorer districts; and at once made offers of employment to the two fishermen, through whose exertions many of the finest rivers in the country have since been stocked with fish. The system has been extended to Spain, Holland Great Britain, and many other countries. As shewing the extent to which artificial hatching is carried on in other countries, we may state that the reservoirs, breeding-places, and other suitable constructions of the government establishment at Basel, occupy a space of about twenty-five acres of ground, devoted to the propagation of salmon, carp, tench, and those other kinds of fish of which the French people are so very fond. At Huningen, also, there is another extensive establishment for the production of fish, in which trout and other freshwater fishes are propagated in myriads, and the neighboring rivers and streams are supplied with stock from this useful reservoir. "On the 14th December 1852, a small rill at Outerard was selected for the experiment, by a rude check thrown across; a foot of water-head was raised over a few square yards to insure regularity in the supply. From this head, half-foot under surface-level, three wooden pipes, two inches square, by a few feet long, drew off respectively to the rill-bed and to the boxes all the water required-the surplus of the supplying rill passing away in its usual course. The boxes are six feet long, eighteen inches wide, nine inches deep, open at top, set in the ground in a double row, on a slope of two or three inches on each box, the end of the one set close to the end of the other in continuous line, and earthed up to within one inch of the top. They are partly filled, first with a layer of fine gravel, next coarser, and lastly with stones, coarser somewhat than road-metal, to a total depth of six inches. A piece of twelve inches wide by two inches deep is cut from the end of each Mr. Shaw was the first person in this box, and a water-way of tin nailed over country, we understand, to direct his at- this, with a turn up on either side to pretention to the subject. His experiments vent the water from escaping. These were made about twenty years ago; but connect the line of boxes, and carry the differed in their object from those of Ja-water to the extreme end, whence it is cobi, inasmuch as they were undertaken principally to solve a problem in the natural history of the salmon. In 1848, Mr. Boccius, civil engineer, published a work on Fish in Rivers and Streams: a Treatise on the Production and Management of Fish in Fresh Water, &c., &c., This gentleman had taken up the subject in 1841, and made several very successful experiments. In the rivers of one estate alone he is said to have reared upwards of 120,000 trouts. He was also employed made to drop into the pond which receives and preserves the young fish. "The artificial rill is in all respects similarly prepared, excepting that its channel-course is in the soil itself. The pipe now introduced into the upper box of each line, and of the water-head, the spawn-bed is prepared; two hours' running will clear away the earth from the stones. The water will be found about two inches in depth over the average level of the stones in the boxes. By an iron wire grating, the boxes can be isolated, of a meeting held at Ballina, that a small and the pipe protected against the passage of insects and trout." It is satisfactory to note that this Irish experiment was quite successful, as might be expected from the skill and experience of the gentleman engaged to conduct the trial. Mr. Ramsbottom has been the first to conduct the proceedings in each of the three divisions of the United Kingdom, with salmon-ova, to a successful termination; having in 1852 hatched about 5000 ova on the estate of Jonathan Peel, Esq., of Knowlmere; and more recently he has taken a prominent part in carrying on the attempt to re-stock the river Tay by artificial fecundation and nursing, which we will now attempt to describe. The immense fecundity of all kinds of fish is well known. They shed spawn sufficient to produce myriads of young. A salmon, for instance, of ten pounds' weight, it has been calculated, will yield 10,000 young. But when the spawn is deposited, in the usual course of nature, in the rivers frequented by the fish, it is exposed to so many dangers, that not more than onefourth of the quantity deposited ever comes to life. Mr. Robert Buist, of Perth, at the meeting of the Tay salmon-fishing proprietors, stated that there were many spawning-beds in the Almond River, and one had been found dry, owing to the long-continued dry weather, and the spawn was thus destroyed. But even after the egg is hatched, the little fishes are subjected to innumerable dangers. If the spawning-beds escape the danger of being dried up mentioned by Mr. Buist, they are liable to be ploughed up, and the seed carried away by the storms of winter; or if spared from both of these calamities, the water-hen breaks into them and gobbles up the deposits. The ova is much preyed upon by other fish. From the gullet of a large trout upwards of 600 salmon-eggs have been taken during the spawning season; and all kinds of remorseless enemies attack and devour it in its various shapes of egg or fish. Wild ducks, and other kinds of fowl, demolish great quantities of the spawn; the maggot of many of the flies which are hatched in the water also preys upon the defenceless ova. On this enemy to the salmon, Mr, Buist, of Perth, makes the following remarks, in a letter to the government inspecting commissioners of Irish fisheries: "I observed it stated in an account black insect had destroyed much of the ova in the experimental ponds there. This insect I observed while our eggs were hatching in 1854, and had some specimens brought in, and saw in a crystal jar the whole operation of the vermin on the ova. It fastened on it with its feelers, and stuck to the egg like a leech. It is the grub of the May-fly that takes wing that month, and in its turn is devoured by thousands of the finny tribe. This is what may be called retributive justice; but mark the reaction. This little insect of a day, while playing in the water, and swallowed by myriads of tiny fish, drops eggs which next season become hatched by the sun of spring, and then in their larva state prey on the egg of the salmon, and suck the very heart's blood from the embryo fry. Such is life-the strong liv ing on the helpless." Hence the urgent necessity for bringing forth the young, securely sheltered in these breeding-ponds from the most destructive of their natural enemies, and securing for all the fish which comes to life a safe asylum, till the period when they may be safely sent on their travels. The largest experiment in salmon-breeding yet made in Great Britain has been tried on the banks of the river Tay, at a spot called Colinhaugh, but better known as Stormontfield, on the property of the Earl of Mansfield. The operations at Stormontfield originated at a meeting of the proprietors of the river, held in July 1852, when a communication by Dr. Eisdale was read on the subject of artificial propagation; and Mr. Thomas Ashworth, of Poynton, explained the experiments which had been conducted at his Irish fishery-station. He said that "he had entertained the opinion for a long time that it would be as easy artificially to propagate salmon in our rivers as it was to raise silkworms on mulberry-leaves, though the former were under water, and the latter in the open air. It was an established fact, that salmon and other fish may be propagated artificially in ponds in millions, at a small cost, and thus be protected from their natural enemies for the first year of their existence, after which they will be much more capable of protecting themselves than can be the case in the early stages of their existence. His brother and he have at the present time about 20,000 young salmon in ponds, thus pro duced, which are daily fed with suitable food. Mr. Ashworth also observed, that a great deal had yet to be discovered in the artificial propagation and feeding of salmon. They know but comparatively little of the habits of salmon, and in order that a greater amount of knowledge might be obtained, he had recommended to the commissioners of fisheries, in Ireland, to take a portion of the fish propagated in the way he had mentioned from the ponds, and immerse them annually in the sea for a period of three months, and to be again deposited in the ponds for other nine months-to be repeated for several years. The commissioners had taken about a dozen of these young salmon from the ponds, and had had them many weeks in the Dublin Exhibition, where they were kept in a model of a wear, with a salmonladder in it, the model being supplied by a pipe with a constant run of water. These little creatures shewed their agility by mounting the ladder, and so passing over the wear to the amusement of the bystanders; and he was informed they were alive and thriving, being perfectly healthy in this small run of pure water, and were fed with chopped meat every day. It was only in this way a more accurate history of the ages and habits of the salmon species might be written. The expense of this plan of artificial propagation he did not estimate to exceed a pound a thousand, which was at the rate of one farthing for each salmon." In conclusion, Mr. Ashworth said: "The great consideration that weighed with him was, that by the artificial propagation of salmon a vast increase to the quantity of human food would be obtained." He then strongly impressed upon the meeting the importance of sending for Mr. Ramsbottom to commence operations in the Tay, and instruct others as to the plans to be adopted for increasing the salmon in that river. The plan proposed by Mr. Ashworth was unanimously agreed to, and a committee was at once appointed to have the resolutions arrived at by the meeting carried into effect. The breeding-ponds at Stormontfield are beautifully situated on a sloping haugh on the banks of the Tay, and are sheltered at the back by a plantation of trees. We have visited the place, which is situated about five miles from Perth, and about a mile and a half from a railwaystation. The ground has been laid out to the best advantage, and the whole of the ponds, water-runs, etc., have been planned and constructed by Mr. Peter Brown, C. E., and they are said to answer the purpose admirably well. There is a rapidrunning mill-stream parallel with the river, from which the supply of water is derived. The necessary quantity is first run from this stream into a reservoir, from which it is filtered through pipes into a little water-course at the head of the range of boxes, from whence it is laid on. The boxes are fixed on a gentle slope of ground on the pleasant bank of the silvery Tay; and by means of the gentle inclination, the water falls beautifully from one compartment or box to another, in a gradual but constant stream, and collects to the bottom in a kind of dam, and thence runs into a small lake or depôt where the young fish are kept. A sluice made of fine wire-grating, admits of the superfluous water being run off into the Tay, and thus keeps up an equable supply. It also serves as an outlet for the fish when it is deemed expedient to send them out to try their fortune in the greater deep near at hand, for which their pond-experience has been a mode of preparation. The planning of the boxes, ponds, sluices, &c., has been accomplished with singular ingenuity, and we cannot conceive anything better adapted for the purpose. Our only regret is that it has not been constructed on a much larger scale. If the number of boxes had been doubled, there would then have been accommodation for breeding one million of salmon. The operation of preparing the spawn for the boxes was commenced here on the 23d of November 1853, and in the course of a month, 300,000 ova were deposited in the 300 boxes, which had been filled with gravel and made all ready for their reception. Mr. Ramsbottom, who conducted the manipulation, thinks the Tay is one of the finest breeding-streams in the world, and says that "it would be presumption to limit the numbers that might be raised there, were the river cultivated to its capabilities." We prefer giving this gentleman's own description of the process of shedding the spawn, and the manner of impregnating it. "So soon as a pair of suitable fish were captured, the ova of the female were immediately discharged into a tub one-fourth full of water, by a gentle pressure of the hands from the thorax downwards. The milt of the male also reports the second series of experiments begun last winter as most satisfactory. The work was commenced on the 22d of November, and finished on the 19th of December last, up to which time 183 boxes had been stocked each with 2000 ova. There seems, as we learn from the report, to be a very great scarcity of male fish, as may be gathered from the following entry in the pond journal, kept by Mr. Marshall- "Peter of the Pools :" "When we [Mr. Ashworth and Mr. Buist, of Perth] arrived at the river, they had caught two female fish, and at the next cast two other female fish were taken. At the third cast they captured a male fish in fine condition, from twenty-four to twenty-eight pounds' weight. We had now full opportunity of seeing the whole process of spawning performed. The female fish, after being relieved of their ova, swam away quite lively, and each was marked by punching a hole in the tail." The same disparity between the quantity of males and females was observed in Ireland. The males were found to be in the proportion of 1 to 14 at Lough Corrib; but we mention this only incidentally, having no intention, in the present paper, to enter into the salmon controversy, or to trace the young fish further than its birth. was ejected in a similar manner, and the contents of the tub stirred with the hand. After the lapse of a minute, the water was poured off, with the exception of sufficient to keep the ova submerged, and fresh water supplied in its place. This also was poured off, and fresh substituted previous to removing the impregnated spawn to the boxes prepared for its reception. The ova were placed in the boxes as nearly similar to what they would be under the ordinary course of natural deposition as possible, with, however, this important advantage in the bed of the river, the ova are liable to injury and destruction in a variety of ways; the alluvial matter deposited in times of flood will often cover the ova too deep to admit of the extricacation of the young fry, even if hatched; the impetuosity of the streams when flooded will frequently sweep away whole spawning-beds and their contents. Whilst deposited in boxes, the ova are shielded from injury, and their vivification in large numbers is thus rendered a matter of certainty, and the young fish reared in safety." The date when the first egg was observed to be hatched was on the 31st of March; and during April and May most of the eggs had started into life, and the fry were observed waddling about the breeding-boxes; and in June they were promoted to a place in the pond, being then a little more than an inch long. Sir William Jardine, in a paper read at the recent meeting of the British Association, with a copy of which we have been kindly favored, says, of the first year's experiment, that the results have been satisfactory in shewing the practicability of hatch-"Pisciculture, Du Repeuplement des ing, rearing, and maintaining in health a Eaux de la France, par M. Ĉ. Millet”—a very large number of young fish for a paper read before the savans of one of the period of two years, and, not reckoning Paris associations, and containing many the original expense of the ponds, at a curious ideas and much striking informcomparatively trifling cost. Sir William ation on the subject. Those of our readers who feel anxious for more information on the interesting subject of pisciculture, may consult an article in the Revue des Deux Mondes for 1854 (vol. vi.); and there are a great number of pamphlets on the subject to be had from the French booksellers, such as THE Boston Public Library has 28,080 | year, 1865 volumes and 5330 pamphlets volumes, exclusive of those already receiv- have been donations. ed from the last liberal donation of Mr. Bates, and of tracts, 12,380; last year the library contained 22,617 volumes, and 6507 tracts. Of the additions the past M. GOUJON, a young astronomer of great eminence, and an assistant of Arago, died in Paris on the 1st inst. From the Dublin University Magazine. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES TALMA. FRANCIS JOSEPH TALMA ranks amongst the most remarkable men of the age and country in which he lived. His theatrical eminence was only one of his many claims to distinction. The Garrick of the French stage, combined with the great artist the man of literature, the accomplished gentleman, the honest citizen, the steady friend, the affectionate husband and father, and the agreeable companion endowed with ample stores of knowledge, and unrivalled conversational powers. His memory resembled a vast magazine, from whence he could draw supplies at will, without danger of exhausting the hoard. He had read much, had witnessed more, and recollected all. He saw the death of Voltaire, the entire career of Chateaubriand, and the rise of Victor Hugo and Lamartine. He beheld the dawn of the great Revolution, became a spectator of all its terrible phases, from the destruction of the Bastile, the massacre of the Swiss Guards, the trial and execution of the King, the reign of terror, and the directory, through the glories of the consulate and the empire, to the extinction of the latter and the restoration of the Bourbons. With the past, he looked back to the reign of Louis the Fifteenth, and almost lived to see the barricades of 1830, and the election of Louis Philippe. Personally, he was the friend of Chenier, David, Danton, Camille Desmoulins, and was one of the familiar intimates of Napoleon. His life was a link connecting that of many others, rather than a distinct single existence. His professional popularity never waned with the vicissitudes of a career of nearly forty years; and the affection of his private friends, enduring through life, accompanied him to the tomb. He must have been preeminently a happy man, for his mind was pure, truthful, ingenuous, and straightforward: neither let it be forgotten, in the enumeration of his many enviable endowments, that he realized a handsome fortune by his own exertions. - A short time before his death, Talma was asked by an admiring friend why he did not write his own biography, as La Clairon, Le Kain, Preville, and Molé had done before him. He answered that he had not time; and that having so incessantly studied and repeated the thoughts and words of others, he could find no original phrases in which to express his ideas.* Nevertheless, an extensive collection of notes and memoranda was discovered amongst his papers after his death, written by him with a view to a personal history of his life and times. These papers, after a lapse of more than twenty years, were consigned, with permission of the two sons of Talma, to Alexandre Dumas, to arrange and edit. The ingenious novelist commenced the task with his usual rapidity, and four volumes were published in 1850. Talma is made to speak throughout in the first person, but how far the imagination of Dumas has embellished or obscured reality, is a question not easily decided. He gives some original anecdotes, and verifies others that have been in print before. The narrative altogether has an air of doubtful authenticity. It is too discursive, and meanders into so many labyrinthine episodes, that the individual biography is not easily disentangled. We have been given to understand by more than one competent critic, that the work is considered in France, as "peu serieux." In 1827, within a year after the death of Talma, an excellent memoir upon the man and his art appeared from the pen of Regnault-Varin, who knew him long and intimately. This volume is highly esteemed, and may be faithfully relied on. Tissot and Moreau also published pamphlets upon the same subject; and the celebrated comedian Regnier has written an excellent article on Talma, There is a memoir of Le Kain, in French, with the name of Talma as the author; but it is now said on good authority not to have been written by him. |