FISHERY BOARD TOR SCOTLAND. 79 



linked witli certain scientific researches referred to below it will be 

 better to consider them together. 



The Report for 1885 contains a short paper by Mr. Wilson, the 

 Fishery Officer of the district, on the Fisheries of the Solway 

 Firth ;* a similar paper on The Fishing Grounds of the Stone- 

 haven District, by Mr. J. Murray, is given in last year's Report ;t 

 Professor Stirling, of Owens College, has a suggestive paper in the 

 Report for 1885 on Some Economic Products from Fish,X a sub- 

 ject which deserves far more attention in this country than it has 

 yet received ; and in the Report for 1886 Mr. C. E. Fryer, Inspector 

 of Fisheries for England and Wales, furnishes an account of much 

 practical value on The Preparation of Sprats and other Fish as 

 Sardines.^ 



Biological Investigations. 



One of the earliest questions which engaged the attention of those 

 conducting the scientific investigations was the natural history of the 

 herring. Several papers have appeared in the annual reports on this 

 subject. In that for 1886 there is a long and elaborate memoir by 

 Mr. Duncan Matthews On the Structure of the Herring and other 

 Chq?eoids,\\ which is illustrated with four plates, and contains the 

 fullest description of the skeleton of the herring which has yet 

 appeared. The skeletons of the shad, the pilchard, and the sprat 

 are also described. It is scarcely possible to give an abstract of 

 this paper, which consists of minute descriptions of every part of the 

 skeleton; but it forms a valuable contribution to the osteology of the 

 Teleostean fishes. In the Reports for 1885 and 1886 Mr. Matthews 

 has given the first and second parts of a report dealing with the 

 question of Variety among the Herrings of the Scottish Coasts.^ 

 These papers embody the results of the examination and measure- 

 ment of a very large number of herring" from both the east and 

 west coasts in winter, spring, and summer, and some idea of the 

 extent and minuteness of this research may be obtained when it is 

 stated that about 16,000 measurements were made. A large number 

 of Tables are included in the report, giving the ratios of the posi- 

 tions of the fins, the relative length of the body and head, the 



* Fourth Report, p. 255, 1886. 



t Sixth Report, p. 223, 1888. 



I Fourth Report, pp. 256—260, 1886. 

 § Fifth Report, pp. 218—221, 1887. 



II Fifth Report, Appendix F, pp. 257—292, pis. xv— xviii, 1887. 



^ Fourth Report, Append. F, pp. 61—98, 1886 ; Fifth Report, Append. F, pp. 295— 

 316, 1887. 



