THE SENSE-ORGANS AND PERCEPTION OF EISHES. 255 



food would prevent its being used in a finely divided form, however 

 compounded. 



(3) In experimenting with squid on a small scale I found that it 

 could easily be preserved for about a month by cutting it open, 

 cleaning and drying it with a cloth, and then powdering it with 

 boracic acid and flour. This squid was apparently unchanged, and 

 was in excellent condition for bait. Unfortunately, now that so 

 many of the trawlers go away to the Bristol Channel, but little squid 

 is landed at Plymouth. 



Salted squid and salted pilchards are used, but are very unsatis- 

 factory. 



On a small scale pilchards were preserved for three weeks in the 

 same way with boracic acid and flour, and were satisfactory as bait 

 for conger. I succeeded also in catching mackerel at the time when 

 they were feeding near the bottom (August and September) with 

 preserved pilchard and preserved squid.* With the kind assistance 

 of Mr. Matthias Dunn, of Mevagissey, I laid down several barrels 

 of pilchards with boracic acid and flour as described, but for some 

 unknown reason they did not answer. Though not decomposed, in 

 a month's time they had become what is called by fish-curers 

 " rusty,'' and their scent was that of cured fish rather than that of 

 fresh. My experience with them on a small scale leads me to believe 

 that with experience and precautions they might be kept with boracic 

 acid in the dry state. Of course this preservation should be made 

 with winter fish, which contain much less oil than summer fish. 

 There is little hope that they could be preserved for bait in a solu- 

 tion of boracic acid, from the fact already mentioned that the scent 

 of these things seems to be destroyed by contact with water. 



In conclusion, I may repeat that the experiences here given sug- 

 gest that the first step to a proper solution of the bait question for the 

 south coast and Channel Island fisheries, where fishes tvhich hunt by 

 scent are caught, must be made by the extraction of the scent of 

 squid or pilchards. Whether an artificial bait flavoured with such 

 an extract would be useful in the fisheries of the North Sea, &c., 

 cannot be predicted, but if made of some bright or white material 

 (as dough or china clay) it might probably prove equally attractive 

 to fish which hunt by sight. At the same time it must be borne in 

 mind that any artificial bait must be extremely cheap if it is to be 

 preferred (in the North Sea) to herrings, which are to be had for a 

 great part of the year. It would, moreover, be interesting to see 



* When mackerel are fished for at anchor with a hand-line, these two baits are used 

 together, a small piece of each being put on the hook. It is difBcult to explain the reason 

 of this curious practice, but either bait alone is said to be of little use, which my own 

 experience fully confirms as far as it goes. 



