256 RATE OF GROWTH OF SOME SEA FISHES. 



autumn spawning. At Plymoutli I have evidence that spawning 

 goes on in every month from June to November inclusive ; it may 

 be that some pilchards spawn both at Concarneau and at Plymouth 

 also in April and May, or it may be that spawning commences 

 earlier in the Bay of Biscay than further north in the English 

 Channel, or it may be that the individuals found to contain some 

 mature ova by Pouchet, would not have actually spawned till near 

 the end of May. In any case, we have at present no indication that 

 there are two spawning periods, or more than one maximum and 

 minimum of spawning activity in the species. 



In the note in the Comptes Rendus of April, 1891, Pouchet 

 merely summarises the results of the observations in his last report, 

 which I have already reviewed. After studying the researches con- 

 tinued for several years at Concarneau, we cannot help being sur- 

 prised that so much careful and systematic work should have con- 

 tributed so little to the elucidation of the life-history of the sardine. 

 The reasons for this failure are, it seems to me, of two kinds : — 1st, 

 the adoption by Professor Pouchet of preconceived ideas concerning 

 the mode of life of the species, and the relation between this mode 

 of life and the sardine fishery ; 2nd, the employment of inadequate 

 and unsuitable methods, and want of experience in the investigation 

 of the history of marine fishes in general. I cannot help thinking 

 that results of greater value would have been obtained if the actual 

 weights and measurements had been ascertained in the Laboratory 

 of large samples of the fish caught, if the regime of the fishery had 

 been expressed in scientific rather than industrial terms. It seems 

 also probable that if pelagic collecting had been carried on with 

 sufl&cient frequency and suitable instruments in the summer off the 

 French coast, the eggs and alevins of the pilchard would have been 

 obtained in abundance in all stages. 



However this may be, it is very desirable that the number and 

 character of young pilchards occurring in the neighbourhood of 

 Plymouth throughout the year should be ascertained, and for this 

 purpose I have suggested that our small-meshed nets should be 

 shot three or four times every month during the present season. 

 It would be still better if we had a fleet of nets of various different 

 meshes, so as to take fish of various sizes. 



The position and extent of the region where the French sardine 

 fishery and preserving industry are carried on are indicated in the 

 map appended to this paper, in which the situation of all the locali- 

 ties mentioned can be seen at a glance. 



