productive power is entirely destroyed. This deterioration and impaired fecundity can only be accounted for by the excessive and exhaustive fishery in the sounds, from which heretofore the beds in the bay have been free. Quite probably, were the remaining beds in Chesapeake Bay examined carefully, they would show indications of deterioration similar to those discovered in the Tangier and Pocomoke beds.

It can hardly be doubted that this deterioration is due to the severe fishing, and that in time, unless this is stopped, it will produce utter exhaustion. Foreign experience aptly illustrates this. The records of production of the beds of Cancale Bay, on the northwest coast of France, extending over a period of about seventy years(1800 to 1868), are very instructive. The beds comprise an area of about 150 acres, and, from 1800 to 1816, produced annually from 400,000 to 2,000,000 oysters. During this period the beds became so thickly stocked that the oysters were in some places a yard thick. Subsequently the fishery was much increased, and the oysters were removed in larger quantities till 1843. From 1823 to 1848 it is supposed that the dredgers were living on the oysters accumulated between 1800 and 1816. In 1817 the number produced was 5,600,000, and until 1843 there was a constant increase, the number taken in that year being 70,000,000. In 1848 it was 60,000,000, and thenceforward there was a constant decrease. From 1850 to 1856 the decrease was from 50,000,000 to 18,000,000. From 1859 to 1868 the decrease was from 16,000,000 to 1,079,000, the oysters having almost entirely disappeared, though the inhabitants, on account of their suffering, dependent condition, were not hindered from fishing. In 1870 there was a complete wreck of the bottom, which could only be remedied by a total prohibition of the fisheries for several years. Similar results occurred in other places on the west coast of France, where, when in 1854-55, 15,000,000 oysters were taken from the beds, only 400,000 could be obtained in 1863-'64. The testimony of English experience also corresponds with that just given, and is equally valuable with reference to the course which must sooner or later be taken in our country for the preservation of the oyster-beds from complete ruin. It is true that our beds are so extensive, and oysters are so widely distributed and so easily transported and transplanted, that the total failure of the American beds must be postponed for some time. But the failure of beds in different localities may occur at any time, and probably those of Chesapeake Bay will not last many years. The deterioration and exhaustion of our beds would cause great distress and inconvenience in the United States, where the oyster is no luxury simply, but a means of support to large numbers. Not only are oysters consumed with us in every part of the Union, but immense numbers are also annually ex

ported. Hence, by the deterioration of the beds, not only would the price be much increased for all classes, but the poorer among our citizens would many of them be thrown wholly out of employment.

To this statistical and historical account we subjoin a description of the natural history of the oyster, with special reference to the process of reproduction, and the conditions influencing the rate of increase. For material employed here we are indebted to articles contributed by Lieutenant Francis Winslow.

An oyster-bed, in its natural and undisturbed state, consists of a long, narrow ridge of shells and oysters, lying generally in brackish water, on and surrounded by sticky bottoms, a mixture similar to clay and mud being the most favorable. The form and area of the bed are variable, but naturally the length is greater than the breadth, and the greatest dimension is usually in the direction of the current. The bed itself is inade up of masses of shells and oysters, covering areas of different sizes, and separated from each other by mud or sandsloughs, though frequently it is unbroken, and the animals spread evenly and continuously over the entire area. The oyster thrives best in slightly brackish water, and the finest varieties are usually found in water of a lower specific gravity than that of the sea. The main necessity is that the water should contain a sufficient amount of lime to furnish the animal with the principal constituent of its shell. That part of the oyster usually known as the heart is a muscle, called the adductor muscle; its office is to keep the valves or shell closed, and prevent the ingress of hurtful matter. The two valves are hinged at the round, blunt end of the shell, and between this hinge and the adductor muscle lies the body of the oyster, or visceral mass, which is made up of the lightcolored reproductive organs and the darkcolored digestive ones, packed together in one continuous mass. The mouth of the oyster is that part nearest the hinge, and what is usually called its "beard" is known as the "gills." The oyster lies on its side in the shell, and the minute animal and vegetable matter contained in the water forming the food of the animal is passed between the gills to the mouth, by the action of myriads of small vibrating hairs, called cilia. These cover the surface of the gills, and cause a strong current to set into the lips of the valves, thus bringing in not only what is suitable for food, but other minute particles of matter.

The European oyster (Ostrea edulis) and the American oyster (Ostrea Virginiana) are varieties of the same family, and, though differing in several particulars, are not so dissimilar but that the conditions favorable to the growth and life of one may be considered as equally so for the other. With each variety the formation of the generative matter is gradual, and the spawning-season of both is during the early summer months, its advent depending probably

upon the temperature, the higher temperature hastening and the lower retarding that event. Generally, both in Europe and America, the spawning-season may be said to be from June 1st until August 15th, though variations of the temperature and density of the surrounding waters may expand or contract that period considerably.

All authorities upon the early stages of the European variety concur in the statement that the young oyster, or "spat," is formed by the fertilization of the eggs of the female while within the shell of that animal, and that the "spat" is held between the gills and thus protected by the parent until the shell is formed. Many authorities are also of the opinion that the parents are hermaphrodites; but the accuracy of this view is open to much doubt. The most material difference between the European and American varieties is in the manner of impregnating the eggs of the female. According to the best authorities, the eggs of the European variety are fertilized by the passage of the male fluid into the water, and thence between the valves and gills of the female. The young resulting from the union of the ova and spermatozoa are held and protected within the gills of the female until the shells are formed, and until they are quite well advanced in development, having at the time of their expulsion locomotive powers of their own, which enable them to swim about and seek a fit place for attachment.

The American variety differs in this, that the young oyster is not found within the gills of either parent, nor does the fertilization take place within the shell, but the contents of the generative organs of both sexes are expelled into the water, there to stand the chance of coming into contact. It is evident that a large measure of protection is afforded the young of the European variety by the inclosing shells of the parent, and that this protection is given during the most precarious stages of their existence, while the ova and spermatozoa of the American oyster are not only left to a happy chance for their successful union, but the resulting young are exposed, unprotected, to all the vicissitudes of climate, and to the ravages of all enemies.

After the formation of the shell and the development of the locomotive powers, the young of both varieties begin their search for a permanent resting-place or point of attachment. Such points of attachment must soon be obtained, or the young oyster perishes. Any moderately rough, hard substance, provided the surface is clean, is suitable for the purpose, and such objects, placed so as to attract the young brood, are called "cultch." Pieces of wood, planks, stones, old shells, tiles, etc., have been successfully used. Upon finding the "cultch," the "spat" attaches itself firmly, and thenceforward, so far as its own power is concerned, is located for ever.

The development is now one of ordinary

growth, the animal having passed through its embryonic life; its organs are formed and in active operation; it is but immature. The American variety increases more rapidly than the European. Observations during the summer of 1879 in Chesapeake Bay show that, in the first three months of existence, the oyster increases in size from a hardly visible speck to an average length of one and a quarter inch, and a few were over two inches long. After the first year the increase is not so rapid, and oysters of two or three years of age are about two inches broad and three inches long. In three years, at the most, the American oyster is considered mature. With the European variety the growth is much slower, and at maturity they are very much smaller than the American oyster.

With all animals Nature strives to provide against the destruction of the young after birth by insuring a sufficient number to allow for all ravages; and the greater the danger to the immature the larger will be the number provided to meet those dangers. Hence, as the embryo European oyster receives some protection and the American none, it is inferred that the number of American embryos in any community will be subjected to greater danger, and consequently it is probable that a larger number of eggs and spermatozoa are provided, that the production may not be less. Investigations seem to support this conclusion. Professor Möbius, in his work on the oyster and oysterculture, estimates the number of eggs spawned by the European variety as nearly 2,000,000, and his estimate is supported by Eyton, in his "History of the Oyster and Oyster Fisheries." Professor Brooks estimates the possible number of eggs spawned by the American variety to be as large as 60,000,000, and the average number to be over 9,000,000, or about nine times as many as the European variety spawns. The number of embryos surviving and maturing can not be accurately stated for either variety, as we have not data sufficient to determine the question. The results, however, of Professor Möbius's examinations of the Schleswig-Holstein beds are valuable and suggestive. These were made by government officials from 1730 to 1852, in the following manner: Each bed was dredged over in three or six places, according to its size, and the oysters taken were divided into three classes, and carefully counted. The classes were styled marketable, medium, and young growth. The first were the full growth and mature, from two and three quarters to three and a half inches in length and breadth, and about seven tenths of an inch thick. The medium oysters were those half grown, from six to seven tenths of an inch thick, and about three inches in breadth. The young growth were those of one or two years old.

From these observations, made annually, Professor Möbius discovered that there were on an average 421 medium oysters to every

1,000 marketable ones that is, out of every 1,421 oysters, 1,000 were full-grown. And he gives it as his decision that about 1,000,000 eggs are spawned by each oyster, and that about 44 per cent of the oysters on a bed spawn each season. From the above it is evident that 1,000 oysters would void every season 440,000,000 eggs, and that only 421 of the resulting embryo would survive, or 1,045,000 eggs would perish where one survived. But the medium oysters also spawn, though sending forth a less number of eggs, and Möbius estimates that 421 in the community would produce about 60,000,000, or the 1,421 would spawn together about 500,000,000 eggs, and from these 500,000,000 only 421 oysters would be produced, or, where one oyster arrived at maturity nearly 2,000,000 eggs or oysters perished!

Some efforts have been made to obtain data in regard to decrease in number and increase in size of American embryo oysters. These efforts were put forth in Tangier and Pocomoke Sounds in the summer of 1879, when a number of earthenware tiles were deposited as "spat "-collectors. On inspection it was found that the oysters continued attaching until about the 20th of August, and that the largest number attached about the first of the month; between August 23d and October 10th the mortality was shown to be fully 50 per cent; future examinations of the "spat "-collectors will probably show a diminished mortality, as the animal will be better able to protect itself as it increases in size, but the destruction among the unprotected, delicate embryos must be immense, and (as it is as great as 50 per cent after attachment) it must be much more serious prior to that event.

Lieutenant Winslow gives, as the result of his observations in 1879, that on a natural unworked bed the ratio of young oysters to those of mature age is as one to two, or where there are 1,500 oysters 1,000 would be matured and 500 young. Professor Brooks estimates the number of eggs voided by the American oyster at from 9,000,000 to 60,000,000; 10,000,000 may be taken as an average. The 1,000 mature oysters in the community would then spawn 10,000,000,000 eggs, and as the young European oyster has been found to spawn about one third as many as the mature animal, we may consider the same to be true for the American variety. The 500 young would then spawn 1,600,000,000 eggs, or the total number in the community would spawn 11,600,000,000 eggs, from which would result 500 oysters, or about 20,000,000 eggs or oysters would perish where one was preserved. Lieutenant Winslow's observations convince him that the beds of Pocomoke Sound at least are in a condition very similar to the French beds before they were subjected to the action of protective laws. As these have been made to yield again a profitable return, it may be well here to take note how protection is rendered effectual.

The French Government assumes control of all oyster-beds and fore-shores. Dredging is fixed for a certain time, which is determined by the local commission. A third or a fourth of a bed is buoyed off each year, and dredged only for removing weeds, mud, vermin, etc. The remainder of the bed is open to all licensed persons for a specified time. The following year another part is reserved, and occasionally portions are reserved for longer periods. In accordance with government regulations the beds are not to be opened for fishing until the "spat" has acquired strength to resist the action of the dredge, say until the end of January. A bed with well-established breeding qualities has a fourth or fifth part of its area set apart as a reserve, and dredging over such part is prohibited. A fishery guard-boat is expected to take part in the working of each bed. A bed encumbered with weeds or other noxious matter is opened for dredging until cleansed. Beds on which there is never any production of "spat are to be kept open through the season, and after working any bed it is required to be examined, and, if necessary, the "cultch" replenished. The closetime is between May 1st and August 1st, and is strictly observed.

By these means the beds on the French coast have been much improved. It may be well to see how foreign experience can be utilized for our good in this matter.

3. The

The deterioration of an oyster-bed and its impaired fecundity will be shown in five several ways: 1. By the general appearance and condition of the beds and animals, the prevalence of mud and sand, the oysters being large and single, and the shells covered with worms, etc. 2. The ratio of young to mature oysters will be abnormally large or small. amount of débris in the bed will be very large (say as much as 50 per cent of the contents of the dredges). 4. The number of oysters on the beds will be found to decrease each year. 5. The discovery of unusual inhabitants of the beds other than oysters, or, in general terms, marked changes in the fauna of the beds, indicate deteriorations. In cases like these protection must be assured in order to prevent entire destruction. If deterioration is due to excessive fishery, that must be prohibited; but, as many of our poorer fellow-citizens find support in this industry, restriction manifestly must be used, not entire prohibition. The larger the area, of course the less exhaustive will be the fishery in any particular locality, for the fishermen will naturally leave old and worn-out beds and seek for those newly discovered and well stocked. Fortunately for us, the area covered by oysters along the coast of the United States is so great that at present when any bed or locality begins to fail the fishery is transferred to other points. This is shown by the fact that vessels have left the sounds and work now in the beds in Chesapeake Bay.

In time, however, the entire areas will be known, and all future extension of the fishingground will be artificial in these areas. New beds will probably be found off the mouths of creeks or rivers, and not far from beds already known. The extension of old can be effected by depositing suitable "cultch" upon the bottom near the beds, so as to afford a place for the attachment of the drifting "spat." Stones, ballast, old shells, etc., make excellent cultch, which should be exposed late in the spring. A number of mature oysters being deposited with the shells, materially aid in extending the beds. As the consumption of the oyster is constantly increasing, any failure of supply will of course add to the price and induce exhaustive fishery; and in time it will become so great that strict protective laws, rigidly enforced, will be required in order to prevent the destruction of this branch of industry.

Inasmuch as legislation on this subject will probably be needed ere long, Lieutenant Winslow suggests several points worthy of consideration. Organized and systematic efforts ought to be made to discover new beds and to extend the old ones. Experiments also, looking to the artificial cultivation of oysters,* ought to be made and continued. A fishery commission, composed of intelligent men, with

PANAMA CANAL. The project of connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, by means of a tide-level ship-canal across the Isthmus of Panama, has been carried through its preliminary stages during the year, under the charter granted by the Colombian Government to a French company. The first constitutive meeting of the Interoceanic Canal Company, to which the grant of the original International Company (see "Annual Cyclopædia," 1878, title COLOMBIA) had been transferred, was held in Paris on the 31st of January, M. Ferdinand de Lesseps presiding. A report was submitted by M. de Lesseps, in which the impracticability of the rival Nicaragua scheme was dwelt upon, and it was stated that agreement with the United States authorities had been reached, subject only to the proviso that the neutrality of the canal should be assured. It was further stated that subscriptions had been received for 1,209,609 shares of the stock of the company, of which 994,458 were given in France. The entire capital would be 600,000,000 francs, one half of which would be covered by the issue of obligations, the other half being distributed in shares of 500 francs each. The report also made known that seventy engineers, superintendents, and doctors had already been sent to the Isthmus, that steam-engines had been ordered, and that arrangements would be made for the employment of 8,000 laborers. A sec* See "Annual Cyclopædia," vol. xix (1879), p. 591.

special knowledge on this subject, should be appointed; and a fishery-guard should be put under their control. This commission should endeavor to prevent exhaustive dredging; to secure the reservation of beds containing a large number of young growth; to put a stop to the removal of the young growth; to enforce the strict observance of the close times; to see that the beds are cleansed before the advent of the young brood; to have exposed suitable "cultch" when the bed has been long worked; and to destroy star-fish, drills, etc., that may exist on the beds. The following warning is given by Professor Möbius: "In North America the oysters are so fine and so cheap that they can be eaten daily by all classes; hence they are now, and have been for a long time, a real means of subsistence for the people. This enviable fact is no argument against the injuriousness of a continuous and severe fishing of the beds. . . . But as the number of consumers increases in America the price will also surely advance, and then there will arise the desire to fish the beds more severely than hitherto; and if they do not accept in time the unfortunate experience of the oyster-culturists of Europe, they will surely find their oyster-beds impoverished for having defied the bioconotic laws."

ond constitutive meeting was held on the 3d of March. The report then made stated that there were 102,230 shareholders, and that the work would probably be completed in 1888. Borings and examinations which had been made showed that there would be from 73,000,000 to 75,000,000 cubic metres of earth to be removed. The estimated cost of excavation was 430,000,000 francs; construction of weirs and trenches to convey fresh water to the sea, 46,000,000 francs; and the establishment of a dock and tide-gates on the Pacific side, 36,000,000 francs

making the total cost 512,000,000 francs. The contractors, Messrs. Couvreux and Hersent, whose operations were placed in charge of M. Blanchet, would begin the great cutting at Culebra by October, and, before the end of the year, work would be begun all along the line. At this meeting the company was unanimously declared to be definitely constituted.

The engineers and others, who left Paris early in January, arrived at the Isthmus about the middle of February. M. Blanchet followed in April, for the purpose of pushing forward the surveys and examinations of the ground as rapidly as possible, and preparing for the work that was to follow. There were already seventeen brigades of surveyors in the field, and it was announced that the results of their examinations were so favorable that it was believed that the route would be somewhat shortened, and the time and expense necessary

to carry out the undertaking would be less than had been estimated. There was more earth and less rock to be removed than had been supposed, and the rock was less difficult to deal with. In addition to the final surveys, much was accomplished in the way of collectihg machinery and supplies, establishing quarters for workmen, and getting laborers together. M. Blanchet succumbed to the climate and the effects of overwork, and died on the Isthmus in November. M. Roux, who was the chief in charge of the sounding and testing of the material to be excavated, returned to Paris in the autumn. The following extracts are from a statement made by him to a correspondent on the 23d of November:

I find that from Colon to Tiger Hill the route adopt ed for the canal runs almost entirely through alluvial soil. Here and there you have volcanic tufa, however. From Tiger Hill to San Pablo we have conglomerate soil, clays, etc. Between San Pablo and Matachin we come to the alluvial formation of the Chagres, whence for some distance the level of the district traversed is very little above that of the sea-twenty-five metres, or say eighty feet at most. At Matachin the canal will run through the most difficult part of the route. Here we have to do with solid rock-a most characteristic specimen of which is met with close to the cataract of the Rio Obispo. The rock is hardest just beyond the cataract on the Panama side. Next comes more clayey

tufa, overlying the dolorite of the Serro Culebra, the highest point on the canal route. From Matachín to Culebra the cuttings will be extremely deep-in parts as deep as eighty-seven metres (roughly three hundred feet), and hereabout we have been brought face to face with a most difficult problem-perhaps the most difficult we have had to deal with-what inclination should the canal-banks have? This point has had my most careful consideration. On a superficial view of the question it would seem natural to cut down in as nearly perpendicular a line as possible. Indeed, many engineers-some of them Americanspressed us for a summary settlement of the difficulty in that sense. It seemed to me, however, in the highest degree foolish and reckless to give so grave a matter a solution without previous investigation of the most serious kind. A perpendicular or nearly perpendicular cutting would, of course, have great advantages, if it could be made, for it is evident that the slightest additional inclination given to the banks must enormously increase the quantity of rock to be removed, and therefore the labor and expense. Nevertheless it was decided that the local formation should be examined minutely from the summit to the very bed of the projected canal. I feared that the upper strata of rock might be found to rest on a rotten and unstable foundation. In reply to the suggestions made me I said, "Let us see whether this rock has a stable basis." In the sequel my doubts were shown to have been reasonable. At about one hundred feet from the rocky surface I came to tufa, which, though originally clavey, had gradually become sandy and aquiferous (sables agglutines and aquiferes). Now, had we listened to the advice of our over-hasty engineering friends and decided to cut straight banks, the superstratum of rocks, resting on a sandy foundation, must have fallen into the bed of the canal and blocked it. We shall therefore have to make the banks slope considerably.

The Panama Canal Congress was much exercised by the numerous and periodic inundations of the Chagres. To oppose them it was suggested that an artificial barrage should be constructed at Gamboa. It has been proposed that the enormous amount of clay at Culebra should be transferred to Gamboa. Being water-tight, it would make an admirable barrier, and no masonry would be needed. The engineers incline

to the idea of constructing a railroad, with at least eight parallel lines, close to the Culebra Mountain, and of shoveling the clay into the Chagres Valley. Panama it will run through solid pyroxenic rock and sandstone tufa, such as you may see on the Bovedas promenade at Panama.

But to return to the canal route. From Culebra to

have as yet not done very much. But the ground has As regards the actual execution of our plans, we been thoroughly prepared, and we shall now go ahead fast. Operations have been begun on the Colon side of the Isthmus. The excavators are at work, and workshops have been erected for fitting together and repairing the immense quantity of machinery we have ordered. The excavators and drags selected by Messrs. Couvreux and Hersent are of the most powerful kind. The drags will be capable of removing from eighteen hundred to two thousand cubic metres of subaqueous alluvial matter daily. As regards the rock, my idea was to use the compressed-air perforators employed so successfully at Freggio, the Prato, the Mont Cenis, and the St. Gothard. Nothing is yet definitively settled about these perforators. We have not pierced through any rock. Up to the present we have been busied with preliminary investigations, soundings, hydrographic surveys, etc.

M. Roux thought the work could be completed in seven years, but much depended on the health of the workmen. The climate was not so unfavorable as had been reported. Yellow fever was not epidemic on the Isthmus, though there were local fevers which were more or less dangerous, but not sufficiently prevalent or unavoidable to threaten serious embarrassment. There were at that time from 1,500 to 2,000 workmen in the employ of the company; the majority of them natives-negroes and Indians. There were also some blacks from Jamaica, some Chinese, and a number of Europeans.

About the first of June a majority of the stock of the Panama Railroad Company was purchased by the canal company, and arrangements were made for absorbing the whole of dividual holders. The nominal amount of the it on certain terms, with the consent of the instock of the railroad company was $7,000,000, but it had been paying a dividend of 20 per cent, and the shares had been quoted as high as $275. The total cost to the canal company of securing possession of the railway property was about $20,000,000.

The prospect of a successful prosecution of the canal enterprise has raised the question of its relation to the public interests of various commercial nations. The original contract made by the Colombian Government with the Civil International Society of the Interoceanic Canal, whose rights and privileges have been transferred to the Interoceanic Canal Company, contains the following provision, constituting Article V: "The Government of the republic declares neutral in all times the ports of both extremities of the canal and the waters of the latter from ocean to ocean; and consequently, in case of war between other nations, the transit through the canal will not be interrupted by this motive; the mercantile vessels and the people of all nations of the world will be permitted to enter the said ports without be