THE IMMATURE FISH QUESTION. 69 
and fish traders at Plymouth unanimously maintain that in that 
neighbourhood the supply of merry soles has increased in recent 
years. They say that formerly, ten years ago, merry soles were not 
abundant enough to be sold separately ; they were sold mixed with 
plaice as flat-fish. Now they are sold separately, and form an im- 
portant item in the trade. The fishermen say that this is not due to 
an increase in the number of boats or an increase in the price of the 
fish, nor to the working of new grounds. They say that they get 
many more merry soles now on the same fishing-grounds than they 
did from five to ten years ago. What is the case in the North Sea 
I cannot say, but for the east coast of Scotland we have statistics. 
The gross quantity of lemon soles landed in Scotland is still increasing, 
while the total quantity of turbot, and of flounders, plaice, and brill 
together, appear to have reached a maximum about 1888 or 1889. 
Between 1888 and 1891 the quantity of lemon soles has increased 
from 12,667 hundredweight to 17,739 hundredweight. But, on the 
other hand, Dr. Fulton finds that the quantity of lemon soles caught 
by beam trawlers per ton of the vessels’ tonnage decreased in the 
years 1889 to 1891. As I have mentioned before, no important con- 
clusions can be drawn from statistics limited to three years. Thus 
it is shown that, on the one hand, there is no evidence at present of 
a statistical nature of a decrease in the supply of lemon soles, nor, on 
the other hand, any evidence from the natural history of the fish, or 
an examination of the fishery, that benefit could be obtained by im- 
posing regulations or restrictions, or interfering in any way whatever. 
Plaice. 
The following table gives the results of examination of all the 
plaice examined in the period mentioned. It simply serves to show 
the relation of sexual maturity to size in this species at Plymouth. 
The largest immature female was 143 inches long, the smallest 
mature female 9 inches, so that from 9 inches to 1434 inches is the 
borderland within which some females are mature and others imma- 
ture. The smallest mature male was also 9 inches long and the 
largest immature 12 inches. 
Mr. Holt’s results from observations on the east coast, as de- 
scribed in the preceding number of this Journal, are somewhat 
different. It is true he had examined a larger number of speci- 
mens. He once found a ripe male only 6 inches long, but this he 
rightly regards as quite exceptional. Apart from this, his smallest 
mature male was 9 inches long, and his largest immature 15 inches. 
Of females, his smallest mature was 15 inches long, and his largest 
immature 17 inches. These differences correspond closely with the 
