348 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



Russia, where, though diminished a little in size, it still supports very 

 well the rigor of the northern winters. 



The following conclusion of Milne Edwards' report to the French 

 Government applies equally well to the United States as to France : 

 He says : " Experiments on this subject seem to me especially desira- 

 ble from the consideration of various circumstances which are tending 



^j 



daily to diminish the value of our river fisheries as contributing to our 

 alimentary resources. The increasing rarity of fish in many of our 

 rivers does not depend exclusively upon the mode in which fishing is 

 practised. There are other causes, and among them must be men- 

 tioned the extension of our manufacturing industry. The dams which 

 have been constructed in such great numbers for obtaining hydraulic 

 motive power are so many hindrances to the reproduction of the 

 various species of fish whose habits cause them to ascend to the very 

 sources of streams in order to find there suitable places for receiving 

 their spawn. The parent fish arriving in less numbers at the small 

 streams, the icthyologic population of the rivers consequently suffers, 

 for the eggs no longer encounter conditions favorable to the growth of 

 the young, and the recruiting elements of the whole fauna rapidly 

 decay. If, as in Scotland, and even in England, there existed in 

 France many wealthy land owners possessing water courses of very 

 considerable extent, we could safely leave to private enterprise the 

 execution of all the works relative to the amelioration of river fishery, 

 for the individual to whom these rivers belonged would have a direct 

 interest in augmenting their products. But with us it is otherwise, and 

 the individual who should busy himself with stocking a river with fish, 

 could hardly hope to reap for himself any profit from his undertaking. 

 He would augment the alimentary resources of his fellow-countrymen, 

 and in this way would render a real service to his country, but his 

 own share in the benefits obtained would be small, and would not con- 

 stitute a sufficient motive to induce him to undertake the work. The 

 stocking our rivers with fish would be a public benefit. It should, 

 therefore, I think, be a public charge. Experiments upon a large scale, 

 but conducted judiciously and by intelligent men, would not involve 

 much expense, and might lead to important results." 



NEW COCHINEAL INSECT. 



AT a recent meeting of the British Entomological Society, the Presi- 

 dent, Mr. Westwood presented specimens of the so called " new 

 cochineal insect, Coccus Fabce" which, it appears, feeds on the com- 

 mon bean, and yields a most brilliant color, in all respects resembling 

 the cochineal of Central America. Mr. \V. stated that the " cultivation 

 of the insect had been commenced on a large scale in the south of 

 France, where it would supply a new and profitable opening to the 

 labor of the peasantry." 



