The Scottish Naturalist. 13 



Zoologists believe that trawling does not injure the spawn of fishes, since the 

 spawning beds are not trawled over because of the rocky nature of the sea- 

 bottom selected by some fish e.g., herring. The spawn of other fish floats and 

 is hatched near the surface of the water, and is therefore not liable to be 

 injured by the trawl. Several interesting specimens from the Granton Station 

 were exhibited. 

 March nth, Prof. D'Arcy Thompson lectured on Larval Forms, &c. 



EAST OPiSCOTLAND UNION OP NATURALISTS' 



SOCIETIES.— The reports of the meeting of the Union in Dundee in 

 18S4 have been published since our last issue. They form a valuable store of 

 information as to what has yet been done in the past, in the East of Scotland, 

 from Fife to Aberdeen inclusive, in almost all branches of Natural Science. 



A number of recorders have reported on the separate departments, under 

 the various headings : I. Has the subject been investigated, and in how far? 

 2. What parts of it more especially require investigation, as regards the district, 

 and as regards the subject ? 3. What is the probable richness of the district 3 

 4. Have any important works on the subject (as regards the district) been 

 published ? 5. Have you any suggestions to make for work that should be 

 taken in hand at once ? 



It was resolved that the reports in question should only be preliminary and 

 not enter into very great detail ; but despite this, they form a valuable store 

 of information in almost all branches of Natural Science in the counties of the 

 Union, under the headings above noted. We understand that it is intended 

 to continue, and to extend these reports in future, with the object of ultimately 

 forming complete records of the Zoology, Botany, Mineralogy, Geology, and 

 Meteorology of the East of Scotland, with a complete Bibliography of 

 articles, as well as of larger works, that have been published in the past on the 

 several sciences in that region. 



In this Magazine (vol. I. pp. 193-94) tne departments and the names of the 

 recorders are enumerated ; hence we shall not repeat them here ; though re- 

 corders are required for certain groups of Insects, for Myriapoda, for Lichens, 

 and for Mosses. The Inaugural address of the President, Dr. Buchanan 

 White, is mo4 thoroughly worthy of careful perusal and consideration by 

 all who interest themselves in the question of the best methods of utilising the 

 working power of local societies in the direction of making permanent addi- 

 tions to the information already recorded for each district. The suggestions 

 embodied in it primarily sketch out the work to be undertaken by the Union ; 

 but they are so applicable to the requirements of any Natural History Society, 

 that we reprint elsewhere in this Magazine (pp. 98-106) a portion of the 

 address, slightly altered in the wording to adapt it to the circumstances of all 

 societies, under the heading "On the Scientific Work of Local Natural 

 History Societies," believing that it will be of interest and of Use to many 

 readers beyond the limits of the Union. The latter part of the address is 

 occupied with the consideration of the great groups under which plants fall 

 naturally when we look to their distribution, viz. Maritime, Lowland, Indiffer- 

 ent, and Alpine, with suggestions as to the causes that may have led to the 



