70 THE TUKBOT AND TUKBOT CULTUKE 



Galanus feeds, would find it a little difficult to trace the con- 

 nexion between these investigations and his own livelihood. 

 The ' practical man ' in him would revolt against this unpractical 

 waste of time, and the ' practical man ' in him would be utterly 

 and ineffably mistaken ! 



But hunters of fishes and whales are trained observers, quick 

 to recognize cause and effect. It should be no difficult task 

 for Science to explain to them the chain of interdependence 

 which binds together all creatures in the sea. The fisherman — 

 properly approached — will listen readily enough. But he cannot 

 listen so long as research workers address themselves always 

 to each other, and never to the untrained multitude outside 

 their sacred circle. And he will listen much more readily if he 

 can see an experiment hke Dr. Anthony's — including the feeding 

 of the fry, and the collection of the food. To do him justice 

 he has clamoured for a chance to see these things for many 

 years. But unfortunately Plymouth is a far cry from all the 

 big fishing-ports. There should be some place where experi- 

 ments hke Anthony's could be demonstrated within a few 

 hours' run of every big fishing-port in the kingdom. 



Mcintosh, on p. 7 of British Food Fishes, has described how 

 in 1884 ' the earnest and genial Professor E. E. Prince ' was 

 able to arouse the enthusiasm and collaboration of fishermen 

 by letting them see and understand his work at the Marine 

 Laboratory at St. Andrews, and especially his work among the 

 floating eggs. ' Many of them were by and by provided with 

 earthernware jars which they took to sea, and in some instances 

 were successful in bringing to the laboratory fertihzed and 

 floating eggs of forms not yet examined.' And when it came, 

 in 1885, to asking Oxford University to support the foundation 

 of the Plymouth Laboratory, Dr. Mcintosh ' was able to adduce 

 this fact as an instance of the effect of such institutions even 

 on the fishing population '. What was true of the fishing 

 fraternity in 1884 is even more true to-day. They lack not 

 hunger for knowledge but opportunities of satisfying their 

 appetite. This is more especially true of the men who work 

 out of the great ports of Grimsby and Hull. It wiU also be true 

 of the port of Fleetwood if the Piel laboratory is allowed to 

 close down. Aberdeen is more happily situated, as its owners 

 and skippers can always keep touch with Dr. Fulton and his 

 colleagues. 





