154 Presidential Address. [Sess. 



other upwards, the lower side remaining white while the 

 upper gradually becomes brownish. The eye on the lower 

 side, not being required there, gradually works round to the 

 upper side. Examples of more or less speckled flounders are 

 not unknown, but these are probably energetic, active speci- 

 mens of a too restless disposition, undecided as to which side 

 to lie on and so allow the pigment cells to operate on the one 

 side or the other rather than scatter in patches on both. 



I would now merely mention another item of protection 

 which we, with pleasant memories of our field excursions, 

 cannot ignore — viz., that of natural scenery. In this connec- 

 tion I was glad to see it reported lately that " the French 

 Minister of Public Works has sent to the chief State engineers 

 a circular which shows that, while naturally anxious to provide 

 means for the development of the country, he nevertheless 

 sympathises heartily with the society for the preservation of 

 picturesque sites and beautiful landscapes. He tells the chief 

 engineers that, as it is frequently their duty to prepare plans 

 for bridges, &c., they should bear in mind that edifices of that 

 sort, if judiciously placed and properly surrounded, often 

 enhance the beauty of the spot, and that a misplaced detail as 

 frequently mars its picturesqueness. He knows that these 

 are commonplace platitudes, but, as they are sometimes lost 

 sight of, he requests the chief engineers to instruct their 

 subordinates that, in the construction of roads, railways, and 

 tramways, and the planting and felling of trees, &c., they 

 should not lose sight of a proper respect for natural beauties, 

 and should try, if possible, to enhance their sesthetic value." 

 Would that all our public and private works were directed 

 towards this preservation of picturesqueness and to the avoid- 

 ance of the marring of the beauty of natural scenery ! Those 

 of you who were of our party that visited Peebles on 23rd 

 July would remember, as we walked along the banks of the 

 Tweed to Manorfoot, the beauty of the stone skew-bridge 

 which spans the river at one of the most beautiful of its many 

 lovely reaches to carry the railway over it to the tunnel 

 through which the trains run into Peebles. That bridge was 

 purposely designed to be somewhat in harmony with the 

 natural beauty of the district. Unsightly red-painted iron 

 girder -bridges mar the scenery to such an extent that all 



