REPORT OF COMMISSIONERS. 15 



eggs of iiiaii.y food fishes of the sea. This Avas the wovk of Mr. 

 J. T. Cunniiighani, the naturalist of the Association. Everj^body 

 knows that the sahnon and trout and most river fish have regular 

 spawning-beds, sometimes dropping the eggs on rough gravel 

 and sand, which some fishes, such as lampreys, pile up in order to 

 break the force of the current, sometimes, as in the case of many 

 coarse fish, sticking them on to weeds and piles by the locks and 

 weirs. If the sea fishes caught for food did the same, as was com- 

 monly believed, protective legislation and much interference with 

 trawling might have been necessary. In a very short time Mr. 

 Cunningham, unequipped with a steam-launch, and only able to 

 make excursions with the local fishermen, w^as able to write as 

 follows : — " The eggs of nearly all our food fishes, except the 

 herring are Ijuoycmt and transparent when they are ripe. The im- 

 mature eggs when in the ovary are opaque white grains ; but by 

 the time they are shed they become as transi^arent as glass. 

 These ova, as soon as thej^ are shed, are fertilised by milt in the 

 water, supplied by male fish in the neighbourhood, and then rise 

 to the surface of the sea ; in calm weather only do they actually 

 reach the surface, because, being but slightly lighter than the 

 water, agitation causes them to be uniformly distributed through- 

 out the depth affected by wave motion." Thus in a few lines the 

 writer was able to correct a natural mistake as to fact which 

 might have caused mischief and wrong legislation, and to describe 

 a most beautiful device of Nature by Avhich these millions of eggs 

 are rendered invisible, locomotive, separate, and safe from local 

 destruction. In addition, he identified the eggs of the common 

 sole, and found that, were it desired, millions of young lemon- 

 soles and mackerel might be hatched from eggs contained in the 

 fish caught for market. Equally important data were obtained at 

 Plymouth on the rate of growth of sea fishes, and on the size and 

 age at which they spaw^n. This had only been attempted success- 

 fully in the case of one species, the cod. The results give safe 

 ground for the discussion of the limits of size below which these 

 fish should be protected. Reports from the fishing boats and 

 fleets give the catches at difi'erent seasons, the nature of the 

 ground, state of the wind and weather, and in the lobster-fisheries 

 the proportion of the difi'erent sexes. Interesting experiments on 

 the use of artificial baits are recorded, and careful notes made on 

 the larval stage of soles and other marine fish. 



Perhaps the most curious of the recent results of the ex- 



