ARTIFICIAL OYSTER CULTURE. I 143 



practical shape in this country. As we mentioned some 

 time ago, an association has been formed which is collec- 

 ting funds for the purpose of promoting marine biological 

 study, and we cannot doubt that its objects only need to be 

 widely known in order to receive the encouragement they 

 deserve. The harvest of the sea is only less important to 

 the people of this country than that of the land, and the 

 study of marine biology is to the one what the study of 

 agricultural science is to the other. At present the success 

 of our sea fisheries depends almost entirely on the mere 

 bounty of nature. We take our fish where we find them, 

 just as the savage lives on the uncultivated fruits of the 

 field. The fisherman does little or nothing to aid the 

 operation of natural agencies, though he often does a good 

 deal to counteract them. Yet a little reflection will show 

 how vast a field the sea affords to observation, and how 

 closely that observation may be brought to bear on the 

 comfort and welfare of our daily life. The life and habits 

 of the fish on which we feed are still for the most part 

 shrouded in mystery. Fishermen go mainly by tradition 

 and the rule of thumb. They know empirically where 

 certain fish are to be found at certain seasons, and provided 

 they secure a good haul they trouble themselves as little as 

 possible about the causes which produce it or the con- 

 ditions which favour it. They cannot be persuaded that 

 science has anything to tell them which they do not know 

 already, and they have the common distrust of practical 

 men for scientific methods and conclusions. The man of 

 science, on his part, is often a little impatient of practical 

 knowledge and utility. It is his function to know, and he 

 leaves it to others to turn his knowledge to practical 

 account. ' A Naturalist,' however, judges his public bet- 

 ter. He knows how to stoop to conquer. No doubt, if he 



