ACCLIMATISATION.

Otago Witness, Issue 1161, 28 February 1874, Page 4

ACCLIMATISATION.

At the last meeting of the Council of the Ac* climatiaation Society, it was mentioned that Mr i. A. Ewen had been unable to cany out the order of the Society for a shipment of black game, and crabs and lobsters. By the last mail a letter was received from Mr Ewen bearing upon this subject, and the fallowing extracts from it will no doubt be read with interest. Mr Ewen writes that* hating failed to procure black game from Captain Boss, " I then applied to several other gentlemen, who all expressed sympathy with the objects of the Society, bat owing to th» great prevalence of diseano amongst the birds, none of them could help me - unless one gentleman, who on a former occasion treated u» most liberally, and who again sent me two sittings of eggs : but neither of the lots were hatched opt, I suspect owing to their having got injured witn the wet, for i t was an unusually cold and wet spring. I have also tried to get a supply from Norway and offered LSO for ten brace to a dealer who had been offered some from there ; but he, too, has failed thus far to get a supply, although he was offered some in ones and twos, but which might have perished before a sufficient number could have been got to make up a shipment— that is, of seasoned birds, for I do not mean to tell you that they would not have been got in any condition, but to have shipped any that had been freshly caught would s ; mply have been to waste the Society's money. Still, lam not without hope, and therefore, unless the order bo cancelled upon receipt of this, I shall consider the order still operative." "Relative to crabs and lobsters," Mr Ewen again writes, "I have made enquiry a» to the practicability of sending them, and find that unless with the greatest care and expense in thefitting up of tanks for their accommodation, and a most skilful man or two to attend to them night and day, it would be useless to attempt sending them, and even then it is very doubtful whether auch a proportion would be landed in- New Zealand as to compensate for such an outlay. In this opinion 1 am supported by Mr Frank Buckland, Mr Henry Lee, 'F.L.S., Naturalist to the Brighton Aquarium, and Mr Scovell, of Southampton, who is a dealer in shell fish only, and I who was recommended to me by Mr Buckland as one who could not only supply the fish, but I also give counsel concerning their treatment. He ioforms me that in vessels fitted with wells specially for them, after a short voyage even of eight or ten days, they begin to cast off their legs and claws, and die. Such being the result of my enquiries. I hesitated to spend money upon such a doubtful venture, especially 98 the n.ain object of your commission had failed in my hands— viz. , the procuring of black game (the fish being, according to my reading of your letter, merely supplementary) ; but if 1 am wrong, I shall be glad to be put right, when I shall endeavour to do the best I can in furtherance of yout wishes, and if I have failed this season through what may be deemed excessive caution, I at least have the consciousness of having acted according to my judgment for the best interests of the Society." Mr Buckland, in his letter to Mr Ewen, says:— " You had better apply for live crabs aad lobsters to Mr Scovell, Hamble. Southampton. He is a large dealer in these ; but Jam afraid you will not get them over to New Zealand, as they are " bad to cany. Black game are also bad to get ; but apply to Mr Dunbar, Brant Castle, Thurso, I Scotland."

Mr Scovell writes to Mr Ewen as follows :— " I am in receipt of yours of the 12th inst., re. specting my supplying you with crabs and lobsters for shipment to New Zealand. lam very doubtful whether any means could he devised for keeping them alive for such a length of time. All my vessels are fitted with wells, through which there is a continual circulation of water, but even iv this way we find a great difficulty in preserving them in a living state during a voyage of not more than from eight to ten days ; and often in that short time they are liable to throw off their legs and claws. I could supply you with a quantity of each sort you may require, but cannot recommend any form of tank for their transport to o auch a distant land. We keep them here no time, for we send them to market on arrival, and therefore never feed them. If any kind of aquarium were invented, so that a continual supply of fresh water could be maintained, a few of the fish may probably arrive without material harm."

Mr Henry Lee, F.L.S., Naturalist to the Brighton Aquarium, writes:—" l regret to say I can hold out no hope of an attempt to convey crabs and lobsters alive to New Zealand being successful. It is just possible that one or two might be taken there by unremitting care and attention, but I do not think it possible that they would arrive alive, <md I am sure that no great number could be so transported. lam & hearty sympathiser with New Zealand acclimatisation, and should be glad if I could give a different opinion. I helped my friend Buckland to obtain and to pack some of the eggs of salmon trout which were sent out some six years ago."

A little story is going the rounds concerning a London Broad Church clergyman, who, being recently on an excursion in Scotland, was vehemently rebuked by his landlady for taking a walk on Sunday afternoon. The clergyman said that he could not sea the harm, and replied, "You know that our Lord Himself walked with His disciples in the fields on the Sabbath day." "Ay," said the old lady, " ay, I ken it, an' I ne'er thocht ony the better o' Him for it neither."

Historical ! — Vide "Jurors' Reports and Awards, New Zealand Exhibition. >f Jurors: J. A. Ewen, J. Butterworth, T. C. Skinner. "So far as the Colony is concerned, the dyeing of materials is almost entirelj confined to the re-dyeing of Articles of Dress and Upholstery, a most useful art, for there are many kinds of material that lose their colour before the texture is half worn. G. Hirsch, of Dunedin (Dunedin Dye Works, George street, opposite Royal George Hotel), exhibits a case of specimens of dyed Wools, Silks, aud Feathers, and dyed Sheepskins. The colours on the whole are very fair, and refleot considerable credit on the Exhibitor, to whom the Jurors recommended an Honorary Certificate should be awarded." Honorary Certificate, 639 : Guatav Hirsch, Dunedin, for Specimen, of Dyeing in Silk, Feathers, &c,