ARTIFICIAL OYSTER CULTURE. 1125 



has arisen from the fact that these worthy practical men 

 have very often allowed themselves to be imposed upon by 

 mere quacks and pretenders, who assume the language and 

 authority of science without any credentials whatever, and 

 lead the practical men astray. Such quackery in science 

 has been by no means unusual in this country, owing to 

 the almost complete destitution of the wealthy classes in 

 respect of scientific education. Practical men have, as a 

 rule, not even a smattering of scientific training, and cannot 

 distinguish true from false science, cannot tell which is the 

 quack and which the man of real knowledge. Equally 

 unfortunate, in this respect, in former times, have been the 

 members of the executive and deliberative branches of our 

 successive governments, so that in days' which we may 

 hope are past ignorant pretenders to scientific knowledge 

 have been, in good faith, placed in responsible positions, 

 and have helped to justify the notion that modern science 

 is a wind-bag of theories, and of little use to the practical 

 man. 



Such causes namely, a general mistrust of so-called 

 science, and to asmall extent a painful experience in especial 

 connection with fisheries, of the results of placingconfidence 

 in quacks who have falsely pretended to scientific know- 

 ledge seem to me to be accountable for the fact that in 

 the British Islands, neither publicly nor privately, has 

 there been any attempt to make use of the services of 

 scientific men in relation to our fisheries. The recent 

 appointment of the distinguished naturalist who is at pre- 

 sent Inspector of Salmon Fisheries, is evidence of a new 

 disposition to seek the aid of the highest authorities in science 

 in connection with this subject ; but it must be remembered 

 that salmon fisheries form but a very small part of British 

 fisheries in their entirety, and that a large staff of experienced 



