183 [A'cwood. 



and during the month of July probably deposits its spawn in rocky 

 localities. At first it was only sought for off our coast, but as the de- 

 mand for it increased, the fishermen went to George's Bank, but the 

 fish found there proved to be poor when compared with those found 

 nearer to us, and after the fishery became more extensive, they became 

 more and more scarce, so that the fisheries have extended as far £is 

 Cape Sable, and the fish themselves which were caught are smaller in 

 size, and do not find so ready a market. Those found along our coast 

 are still the best. There is a great disproportion in the number of in- 

 dividuals belonging to the two sexes, there being at least nine females 

 to a single male. The males can be readily distinguished by being in 

 poor condition. Captain Atwood had caught but a single male that was 

 fat, which weighed over sixty pounds. The average full grown female 

 generally weighs from one hundred to one hundred and fifty pounds. 

 The largest Captain Atwood had ever taken, weighed, when dressed, 

 two hundred and thirty-seven pounds, and would probably have 

 weighed three hundred pounds as taken from the water. Halibut are 

 generally caught after sunrise, and then seize the bait used for fishing 

 for Cod, so as to drive them away, and continue to bite during the 

 day, while Cod are generally caught mostly by night. The Halibut 

 will devour almost any fresh bait, though it will not touch clams or 

 squid, which are good bait for Cod. There is not enough fat in Halibut 

 to pay for the extraction of the oil. 



The Corresponding Secretary read the following list of 

 letters : — 



From the Royal Horticultural Society, London; the Polllchia, 

 Neustadt, the Societe des Sciences Naturelles, Luxembourg ; and the 

 Natural History and Philosophical Society of Belfast, February 4th, 

 1865 ; the Royal Society of Edinburgh, March 11th, 18G5; the Smith- 

 sonian Listitution, March 27th, and June 7th, 1865; the K. B. Akade- 

 mie der Wisseuschaften, and the K. Hof- und Staats-Bibliothek, Miin- 

 chen; the K. K. Geologische Reichsanstalt, Wien, March 27th, 1865; 

 the Societe Lnperiale Geographlque de Russie, St. Petersbourg, and the 

 Royal Society of London, March 29th, 1865 ; the Societe de Geogra- 

 phic, Paris ; the American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia ; and 

 the Societe d' Agriculture, etc., de la Sarthe, Le Mans, April 14th, 

 1865; the Konigliche Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Gottingen; 

 and the Royal Geological Society of Ireland, May 1st, 1865; Bowdoln 

 College, Brunswick, Me., May 31st, 1865; the Deutsche geologische 

 Gesellschaft, Berlin; the Naturforschende Gesellschaft, Danzig; the 

 Naturhistorischer Verein in Augsburg ; the Lyceum of Natural History 

 of New York; the Societe Lnperiale des Naturalistes de Moscou; 



