108 The Ottawa Naturalist. [October 



Station. Indeed this excellent list must be regarded as a pro- 

 visional one. It is a piece of careful and exact work and will be 

 of value to all future students of these lowly plants. A similar 

 observation may be applied to the "Seaweeds of Canso," by 

 Mr. C. B. Robinson, formerly of Pictou Academy, and now of 

 the New York Botanical Gardens, Bronx Park. The algae 

 named include 75 species. 



Among the many diligent workers at the Biological Station 

 none were more assiduous than Mr. G. A. Cornish, of Toronto 

 University, now Science Master at Lindsay Collegiate Institute. 

 His two papers on the Polyzoa and the Fishes of Canso might be 

 criticised on two grounds, viz.: the lack of concise, orderly 

 description, and the lack of drawings. Certainly the notes on 

 fishes should have been thoroughly revised, as much of the 

 matter is somewhat well-worn, and usually fragmentary, and 

 might have been pruned down with advantage. As a beginning, 

 each list has its value, and Mr. Cornish deserves credit for his 

 patient work. Professor James Fowler, it is pleasant to note, 

 once more appears with a very extensive list of the plants 

 around Canso. The names of over 300 phanerogams and 

 cryptogams are given, while the list is prefaced by some exceed- 

 ingly interesting notes. Professor Fowler has been most faith- 

 ful in his services to the Station, and it is said that, in spite of 

 his years, he recently explored the wilds of Gaspe when the 

 Station was located there (1905-1906), and it is to be hoped 

 that his list of Gaspesian plants v/ill be published at an early 

 date. 



Professor Prince's memoir on the eggs and young of certain 

 members of the herring f amity (the shad, ale wife, herring, etc.), 

 with three remarkably beautiful plates, some of them tinted, 

 is of biological interest, and the general conclusion reached is 

 that these fishes are far less rapid in growth than has been 

 usually surmised. Professor Huxley once stated that the 

 herring matured in one year, in his opinion, though he modified 

 his view later ; but it now appears from the more thorough and 

 exact researches of authorities like Professor Prince, that the 

 third or fourth year may elapse before the herring reaches its 

 mature spawning condition. It is a striking circumstance that 

 the herring tribe differ so greatly in the nature of their eggs 

 and spawning habits. The sea-herring's eggs are heav}^ cling 

 together firmly and are attached to the bottom of the ocean. 

 The egg is about one-twentieth of an inch in diameter. The 

 sprat, so like a small herring, deposits a most delicate floating 

 egg. Each egg floats separately and cannot be touched without 

 being crushed, it is sodehcate, while itis barely one-twenty-fifth 



