SECTION IV., 1907. [71] Trans. R. S. C 
V.—Presidential Address. The Biological Investigation of Canadian 
Waters, With Special Reference to the Government 
Biological Stations. 
By Proressor EDWARD E. PRINCE. 
Dominion Commissioner and General Inspector of Fisheries for Canada. 
(Read May 14, 1907.) 
“ How beautiful is the sea!” Cicero exclaimed in a striking passage 
in the “ De Natura Deorum”...... “What the number and infinitely 
varied forms of its inhabitants! Some contained deep in its bosom, 
some floating at its surface, others clinging by their shells to its rocky 
shores.” Such were the ardent terms in which the Roman orator, a 
century before our era commenced, spoke of the ocean and its living 
inhabitants, though he little dreamed of the marvels which biological 
research two thousand years later would reveal to the wondering intelli- 
gence of mankind. 
The investigation of the watery depths, marine and fresh-water, 
upon our planet, has an irresistible fascination. It is full of 
surprises, but its results appeal not to the imagination alone, 
nor merely satisfy the scientific craving for knowledge, rather 
do they afford practical aid of vital importance to the great 
industries pursued upon seas, rivers and lakes. Pre-eminently 
amongst modern nations has Germany realised this. France 
and the United States, too, have done their part, but when 
England handed to the German Emperor the island of Heligoland, 
in 1890, before any forts for defence, or new wharves for commerce 
were erected, a Marine Biological Station was founded for investigating 
the treasures of the seas around. 
Though man divides the domain of nature into various fields, the 
divisions are wholly artificial, for nature is one, and nowhere can we 
find a more striking illustration of this than in the field of research with 
which this address is more especially concerned. 
Marine Biology Benefits Fisheries. 
The interdependence of all the various forms of aquatic life is, 
perhaps, not the least remarkable of the many impressive results of 
recent biological research. From the lowest and simplest vegetable 
forms up to the highly organised and economically valuable fishes in 
our waters the chain of dependence runs, and we can never hope to 
