of the Fishery Board for Scotland, 15 
20,000 specimens, whick were obtained mostly in small-meshed 
nets around the cod-end of otter-trawls during the trawling inves- 
tigations. It is shown that the opinions hitherto generally held as 
to the growth of this fish, and which are for the most part based on 
the investigations of a German naturalist, Dr. H. A. Meyer, which 
were made at Kiel, on the Baltic, over twenty-five years ago, are 
not well-founded, and that the herring grows more slowly than he 
supposed. 
Dr. Meyer’s observations and experiments are submitted to 
critical examination, the results showing that he over-estimated 
the growth of,the herring in winter, when the growth of all fishes 
is retarded, and missed at least a year in the computation of its 
age. The gradual growth of the young post-larval herring from 
the spring and from the autumn spawning respectively is traced, 
the latter towards the end of the year being between one and two 
inches in length, while the growth of the spring herring under 
more favourable temperature conditions is quicker. 
The herring when one year of age measures barely two and a 
quarter inches in length, and it does not reach maturity and spawn 
until five years old and of an average length of about 94-94 inches. 
The size of the herring at different ages is approximately as fol- 
lows :— 
Approximate Age. Length. fit aden ey 
Mm. Inches. Mm. Inches, 
ieYear ss): : : j : : 60°5 23 - - 
2 Years, . c : : : 6 113 4 52 275 
eee 159 64 47 1g 
Aan 200 (k 4] 12 
a) 238 93 38 14 
Gal, 257 103 19 ? 
Herrings over twelve inches long, like the large Lochfyne fish, may 
be ten years old and more, and the very large herrings that are 
occasionally caught, measuring 14-15 inches, are probably over 15 
years of age, and may be 20. Compared with most fishes caught 
by lines or trawls, the herring caught by drift-nets has a great 
advantage, since no less than four generations of undersized or im- 
mature herrings escape capture by passing through the meshes of 
the net, and only fish which have reached adult size are taken. 
The paper is illustrated with three plates of diagrams. 
THE RATE OF GROWTH AND THE AGE OF THE Foop FISHEs. 
Another paper dealing with the growth of numerous species is 
contributed by Dr. Fulton, the results being founded upon the 
measurements of nearly 209,000 fishes belonging to 21 species, 
which was done almost entirely by means of the commercial 
