NATURAL BISTORT SOCIETY OK GLASGOW. 221 



It is difficult to predict the future of the Whale and Seal-fisheries, 



but already' the number of vessels sailing from Peterhead has been 

 reduced from twenty-eight in 1859 to four or five, and the trade is 

 gradually concentrating itself in the port of Dundee, which, with its 

 fleet of fifteen vessels, is the only other town of the United 

 Kingdom which still takes part in this peculiar industry. At the 

 commencement of the present century most of the principal ports 

 in the southern division of the kingdom sent out their one or two 

 whalers, and it would be a work of great interest if anything like a 

 complete history of the rise and final extinction of the Whale-fishery 

 in such ports as Hull and Whitby could be written ; I commend 

 this task to the consideration of the members of the Yorkshire 

 Naturalists' Union. 



[Note. — Since this paper was read, Capt. Gray has conclusively 

 proved the supposed Hyperoodon latifrons to be the adult male of 

 H. rostratus. See Flower, Trans. Zoo/. Soc, 1882, pp. 723-726, 

 and Southwell, Trans. Norf. and Norw. Nat. Soc, vol. iii., 

 pp. 476-481. J. S., 7th July, 1883.] 



28th March, 1882. 



Mr. John Kirsop, F. S.A.Scot., Vice-President, in the Chair. 



The following gentlemen were elected ordinary members of the 

 Society:— Messrs D. A. Boyd, 225 West George Street; William 

 Watson, 245 Main Street, Rutherglen; and Kenneth John Morton, 

 High Street, Carluke. 



Mr. J. B. Murdoch drew the attention of the members to the 

 forthcoming Fisheries Exhibition in Edinburgh. In the course 

 of his remarks he referred to the prizes to be given for essays on 

 various natural history subjects in connection with the exhibition, 

 and hoped that some of the members would be able to enter the 

 competition. 



On the motion of Mr. John Young, F.G.S., seconded by Mr. J. B. 

 Murdoch, it was unanimously agreed to place on record the regret 

 of the members at the death of Dr. Kankin of Carluke, a corre- 

 sponding member of the Society, and long known as a cultivator 

 and promoter of natural, geological, and archaeological science. 



On the 21st of this month died Dr. Daniel Reid Rankin, of 

 Carluke, a member of the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons in 



