402 NOTES AND MEMORANDA. 



taken on the coast since the last report. Most of these have 

 done Avell in the pond, the exceptions being fish of erratic 

 habits, such as the mackerel. These, after restlessly roam- 

 ing in search of an outlet, succumbed and died. Other fish 

 thrive apparently unconscious of their confinement. The 

 Blue Wrasse {Labrus mixtus) had exhibited marked sexual 

 selection, a fact which had also been observed by Mr. Lloyd 

 at Hamburg. During the breeding time the male selects 

 one out of many females, and afterwards regularly accom- 

 panies her. It had also been ascertained that the Blue 

 "Wrasse and the Spotted Wrasse were the same species. 

 The male in confinement at Plymouth appears to be losing 

 his fine colouration and approximating to that of the female ; 

 it seems, therefore, probable that the blue colour is more or 

 less assumed at the breeding season. 



With regard to the Crustacea, there are two subjects of 

 interest. The first is the perceptible decrease in the num- 

 bers of the edible species, the decrease being more percep- 

 tible in the littoral than in the deep-sea species. This arises 

 from the custom of destroying the females as well as the 

 males at all seasons of the year, and also from the preference 

 given to the lobster for culinary purposes when laden with 

 spawn. In the case of the crab [Cancer pagurus) there is 

 not even this excuse. The marketable value of the female 

 is at least one fifth that of the male. This arises from the 

 smaller size, especially of the claws. Captured in gi'eater 

 numbers, they are wantonly destroyed, being hawked about 

 the streets for a few pence. The capture of the lobster, he 

 thought, should be interdicted from February until May, 

 and that of the female crab altogether. To the assertion 

 that the lobster and crab are so prolific as to render the 

 destruction unimportant, there was the obvious reply, that 

 in all those forms of life where the ova are not abundant, 

 the development of the individuals is least quantitatively. 

 In the case of the lobster, no one has ever seen that stage in 

 its life which unites the animal as we know it with that 

 which we have seen it when it quits the e^^,^, and, except the 

 common littoral crab {Carcinus manas), this is true of all 

 the higher Crustacea. Mr. Lloyd, of Hamburg, has no- 

 ticed that the male of the soldier crab {Pagurus) in the spring 

 takes hold of the shell containing the female, and carries it 

 about for weeks together, and does not intercept its food as 

 it would if a male were contained inside. He had found 

 that Crustacea might be preserved in a very superior way by 

 keeping them in glycerine, and then drying them. Sjaeci- 

 mens preserved in this way two or three years ago were as 

 flexible as if fresh-. The soft parts should, if possible, be re- 



