250 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



the "Guide to the Brighton Aquarium," that this pond has 

 acquired a world-wide celebrity, you are tempted to exclaim : 

 why, anybody could have done that ! From Columbus down- 

 wards, however, there is nothing so simple as to make an egg 

 stand on end, provided you have been once shown how to do it, 

 but the merit of originality certainly belongs to the first projector 

 of the Logan fish-pond ! 



Thus far the natural history view — and the whole subject is 

 so simple and in itself of such little importance, that I should 

 hardly have felt justified in troubling the Society with it, were 

 it not that, as stated at the beginning, we may look at it from 

 the economic as well as from the natural history point of view 

 — and apply to our locality and our circumstances the lessons to be 

 derived from this solitary experiment in an out-of-the-way place. 



There are so many spots on the estuary of the Clyde and along 

 our western shores favourable to the construction of similar ponds, 

 and the luxury of fresh fish is so widely appreciated by our towns- 

 men spending their summer season at the coast, while, on the 

 other hand, the misery of stale fish is so often experienced during 

 the remaining months in town, that the attempt might well be 

 made to secure fresh supplies every day in the week and at all times 

 of the day, as could be done if the fish were ready to be lifted 

 out of a pond at any given moment, and forwarded by steamer or 

 train in time for the dinner or supper table. On the principle 

 that a superior article fetches a superior price, a fish-pond on a 

 large scale might even be made to pay commercially; but at all 

 events, there are many proprietors of houses and lands adjoining 

 the shore, who, at a comparatively small outlay, might afi'ord 

 themselves and their friends the luxury of fresh fish at any hour, 

 irrespective of tide or weather. If I can give any further infor- 

 mation to any one having the command of a sea-shore for such a 

 purpose, I shall only be too happy to do so. 



The Librarian announced the following donations to the 

 Library : — Scottish Arbori cultural Society's Twentieth Report, 

 1873; Manchester Scientific Students' Annual Eeport, 1873; 

 Tenth Annual Keport of the Belfast Naturalists' Club, 1873 ; from 

 the respective Societies. Transactions and Proceedings of the 

 New Zealand Listitute, Vols. iv. and v., 1872-73; from Mr 

 Gavin Miller. 



