26 
Limfjord, of undersized plaice, and he considers that this 
might lead to a great increase in the value of the plaice 
fisheries. 
This superabundance of young plaice may possibly be 
present in some special localities, but I doubt whether it 
is at all general, and I do not see how, in the face of 
natural enemies and of fishing operations, we can speak 
of an over-population anywhere until it has been proved 
that there are more young fish than the ground and the 
food will support. I do not think that there is any 
evidence that anywhere in our district have we any young 
fish to spare. But still Dr. Petersen’s observations are 
full of interest, and I think we might benefit by his 
suggestion in one particular. In view of the destruction 
of young fish effected in some of our nurseries by the 
Shrimp trawlers, it might be well to carry out transplant- 
ation experiments, such as those he proposes for Denmark, 
and remove some millions of young plaice and other 
immature fish from grounds where a large proportion of 
them are doomed to destruction, to other localities of a 
suitable nature where they can feed and grow in peace. 
The institution of ‘sanctuaries’? amongst our fish 
nurseries 1s eminently desirable. 
OysTER INVESTIGATION. 
The investigations on the bacteriology and various 
diseased conditions of Oysters and other shell-fish, and 
on their possible connection with public health questions, 
are still being carried on by Prof. Boyce, Dr. Kohn, and 
myself. In July we communicated a paper to the Royal 
Society, giving an account of the presence of relatively 
large quantities of copper in certain green leucocytes 
found in a diseased condition of the American Oyster as 
bedded on our coasts. The Oysters sufferimg from this 
