92 WILD LIFE OF SCOTLAND 



wholesale destruction of myriads of eggs with all 

 their possibilities of profit to the line fishermen, 

 and cheap food to the people by the passing of any 

 heavy object over the spawning beds. And, if the 

 spawn had actually lain where the objectors sup- 

 posed it did, the protests would have been more 

 than justified. But the evil, like many another, 

 was imaginary. It is obvious that the trawlers 

 can do little harm in this direction. 



The Duke of Argyll said in the House of Lords, 

 that, when one of the most eminent marine zoologists 



O - 



in Scotland promulgated the fact that the food 

 fishes deposit their spawn in the open sea, and not 

 at the bottom, the local fishermen were so angry 

 that they burned his effigy. That was the way in 

 which uneducated men, full of prejudice, regarded 

 scientific investigation. 



This mode of dealing with unwelcome truth is 

 not confined to fishermen. There are those of 

 more pretensions, who, not satisfied with the effigy, 

 have disposed of the man. Let us be thankful 

 that the naturalist in question is still amongst us. 

 Give them time, and the fishermen, like their 

 betters, will bow to the inevitable. 



Probably the Duke did not state the case quite 

 fully. Self-interest had more to do with the 



