26 SALT-WATER FISHES 



been left to the twentieth century, for the last quarter of the 

 nineteenth witnessed only the barest inception of practices and 

 economies that may eventually result in placing the fisheries 

 and agriculture on the same footing. It has of late years been 

 increasingly apparent that a sounder knowledge of the fishes 

 themselves, of their growth, their food, their migrations, and 

 their reproduction, is the first condition of useful legisla- 

 tion. The strongest evidence of a general acceptance of this 

 view in intelligent circles is the reception accorded during the 

 past five years to such admirable volumes on the life-history of 

 our food-fishes as those by Professor Mcintosh, Mr. Cunning- 

 ham, and others. Not alone, as shown above, do the few 

 market-fish occupy their attention, but also the majority of 

 the rest, some too small, others too huge, for consumption. 

 Many of these commercially " useless " fishes, moreover, 

 frequent the same grounds as those of greater economic im- 

 portance. Thus the proximity of cod is, as the fishermen well 

 know, unmistakably indicated by abundance of the bergylt 

 (^Sebastes) and poor cod {Gadus minutus). So that a caretul 

 study of the forms which furnish food to those which we 

 ourselves eat may throw valuable light on the life-story of 

 the latter. 



The migrations and distribution* of fishes may be briefly 



considered in this place. With the exception of some of our 



smaller gobies and blennies, and one or two of the 



and flat-fish group, almost all of our sea fish are, even 



istn ution. ^^^^ their larval and post-larval stages, endowed 



with the wandering instinct, and even those which become to 



all intents and purposes stationary in later life, begin their 



career as travellers. When we think for a moment of the 



vast extent of their watery home, and of the comparatively 



few restrictions put upon their progress, it would be surprising 



* These remarks on distribution of sea-life are largely based on two 

 invaluable German works, Die Verbreitung der Fisclte, by J. Palacky, and 

 Grundziige der marinen Tiergeographie, by Arnold Ortmann. 



