176 NEWS [FEB. 1899 



the animals will be permitted to live under the most natural conditions. 

 Experiments will be made to discover how animals communicate with one 

 another, whether they reason, whether domestic animals have increased powers 

 of expression, whether animals, as a class, dream, and so on. Much attention 

 is to be given to the night-flying animals and birds, of which so little is 

 known. 



The Lancet reports the appearance of a veritable giant in the subalpine 

 town of Cuneo, who is a phenomenon deserving of more than vulgar curiosity. 

 This overgrown individual is a native of the Piedmontese hamlet of Vinadio, 

 where he was born twenty-two years ago. His altitude is (in metres) 2*25, his 

 thoracic circumference is 1 "60, and his feet are 45 centimetres long. 



" The Kesources of the Sea ; or, An Inquiry into the Experiments on 

 Trawling and the Closure of Areas," is the title of a work by Prof. Mcintosh 

 (C. J. Clay and Sons, Cambridge University Press Warehouse), to be issued 

 shortly. The work gives the results of many years' experience in the depart- 

 ment — from Lord Dalhousie's Commission (1883-85) onwards. It commences 

 with a general sketch of the resources of the sea in the various groups, then 

 reviews the Trawling Report of 1884, the present condition of the fishing- 

 grounds and the fisheries, and comments on the changes which have since 

 occurred in vessels and their equipment. The mode in which the trawling 

 experiments have been carried out by the Scotch Fishery Board is then dealt 

 with in connection with the closed areas, and as the author suggested these 

 closures for experiment, his criticisms have some interest. The whole series of 

 the experiments in St. Andrews Bay, the Forth, the Moray Frith, and the 

 Clyde are minutely reviewed and criticised, and, finally, conclusions are drawn 

 in accordance with the facts. These conclusions are adverse to the closure, and 

 show that the influence of man in regard to the destruction of any marine food- 

 fish on an open seaboard is comparatively insignificant. The work is accom- 

 panied by thirty-two tables and various photographs and figures. 



