May 2, 1889] 



NATURE 



13 



no cirrus at a higher level ; and while the low cloud c 



moves from north-east, the white cloud w may be coming 

 either from north-east or more probably from north-west. 



The puzzling nature of cloud perspective makes it very 

 difficult to interpret the appearance of these clouds. There 

 can be little doubt that the lower clouds, c, are the product 

 of the condensation of rising columns of air ; but while 

 the somewhat cumuloform structure of %a ought also to 

 indicate an upward motion, the flat top, and outward 

 diffusion, would suggest a more horizontal motion. 

 I cannot therefore suggest any rational explanation of 

 the building of these shower clouds ; and the true nature 

 of this phenomenon will only be discovered when the 

 theodolite is used to determine whether w lies vertically 

 or horizontally in the blue sky. 



Ralph Abercromby. 



Lake Titicaca, February 28. 



A FLA T FISH NURSER Y. 



PROF. EWART submitted the following report at a 

 recent meeting of the Scotch Fishery Board : — 



" I have to report that I recently discovered in the in- 

 shore waters what might best be described as a flat fish 

 nursery. This nursery, which is about five miles in length, 

 and from two to four miles in width, stretches along an ex- 

 posed and only slightly indented shore, where the sea rises 

 during spring tides from sixteen to twenty feet. The 

 bottom of this area consists chiefly of fine sand, covered 

 here and there with large patches of the common sea-mat 

 (Flusfra) ; the average depth is about four fathoms. 

 When a small beam-trawl (with a net having meshes small 

 enough to capture all the fish over two inches in length) 

 was carried over the bottom parallel to and at a distance 

 of about half a mile from the shore, large numbers of 

 small flat fish were invariably secured. On one occasion 

 as many as five hundred and sixty of these small fish were 

 taken in less than an hour, and at all times the Stake ' 

 was large, and usually from 80 to 85 per cent, of the 

 small flat fish were under two and a half inches in length. 

 Some distance from the shore the takes were smaller, and 

 on one occasion the trawl only secured twenty-three small 

 fish, when used in about ten fathoms of water, some 

 seven miles from shore. Along with the small flat fish, there 

 were usually a few small round fish, a number of shrimps 

 — sometimes over, sometimes considerably under one pint 

 — numerous hermit and other crabs, and large quantities of 

 Flustra. As it may be possible to materially increase the 

 fish supply by affording protection to the young fish, I 

 hope to be able ere long to report that other similar 

 nurseries have been found, and also as to whether flat fish 

 during their earlier stages of growth frequent the inshore 

 in preference to the offshore waters. 



" I have also to report that Mr. Scott (who in January 

 last secured many thousands of plaice eggs floating in 

 the open sea over a shoal of spawning plaice) has recently 

 come across a large shoal of spawning haddocks which 

 were apparently resting on the bottom at a depth of 

 about 30 fathoms some fifteen miles off the coast of Banff. 

 The surface waters over the shoal were crowded with 

 haddock and cod eggs at nearly all stages of develop- 

 ment. At a single sweep Mr. Scott with his tow-net 

 secured nearly half a million eggs, while the trawlers 

 were capturing hundreds of the spawning fish that were 

 resting on or moving about near the bottom." 



NOTES. 

 The annual conversazione of the Royal Society will be held 

 on Wednesday, May 8. 



At a meeting of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 

 on April 10, in Boston, t(he Rumford Medals were presented to 

 Prof. Albert A. Michelson. 



We regret to have to record the death of Mr, R. Stirling 

 Newall, F. R.S., at the age of seventy-seven. Mr. Newall's 

 name was well known in connection with the invention and 

 manufacture of wire rope and telegraphic cables. Just before his 

 deathheofferedasagifi to the University of Cambridge the 25-incb 

 refracting telescope which he had constructed some years ago. 



The Civil Service Estimates for the year ending March 31, 

 1890, show that a sum of £^\,T.z\ will be required for the 

 maintenance of the Natural History Museum, South Kensington, 

 for the present financial year. The corresponding sum in the Votes 

 last year was ;^40,934. The principal increase is under the head 

 of " Purchases and Acquisitions," for which the sum asked is 

 ;C47oo instead of ;^3700. On the other hand, there is a decrease 

 of £>9^S under the head of "Furniture and Fittings." The 

 remaining heads do not show any material variation. 



Dr. Lendenfeld's "Monograph of the Horny Sponges," 

 which the Royal Society are about to publish, is now nearly 

 through the press. It will consist of about 950 pages of text and 

 over 50 plates. 



We have received the Report of the Mason Science Colleger 

 Birmingham, for the year ended February 23, 1889. It is 

 hardly creditable to Birmingham that the authorities of such an 

 institution as this should still have to complain of a deficiency of 

 income. Although the amount of the deficiency compares very 

 favourably with those in former years, the Council feel that the 

 economies they have been forced to adopt in order to decrease 

 the difference between income and expenditure seriously impair 

 the College work by hampering the Professors, especially those 

 who have laboratories under their charge and require costly 

 apparatus to illustrate their teaching. 



Prof. H. G. Seeley, to whom a sum was assigned from the 

 Government Grant for a research on the Permian or Trias Rep- 

 tilia, has been spending his Easter recess in St. Petersburg and 

 Moscow. The officers and professors of the Academy, the Uni- 

 versity, and the School of Mines at St. Petersburg have shown 

 him every attention, and his work in the museums appears likely 

 to lead to important results. 



Much excellent work has been done by the London Geological 

 Field Class, which is carried on under the direction of Prof 

 H. G. Seeley. The Report relating to the excursions during 

 the summer of 1888 shows that the work is conceived in a 

 thoroughly scientific spirit, and that it cannot fail to exercise a 

 most wholesome intellectual influence on all who take part it. 

 This year, on account of Prof. Seeley's projected visit to South 

 Africa in July, the class will begin its labours earlier than usual. 

 The first excursion will take place on May 4. Many persons 

 interested in geology ought to take advantage of this opportunity 

 for the study of the country around London, and we are glad to 

 learn that the secretaries have received the names of more sub- 

 scribers than they have received at the same date in any previous 

 year. 



Mr. Duthie, the Government Botanist for Northern India, 

 who has been at work with Dr. King, of the Howrah Botanical 

 Gardens, in classifying the plants collected by him when attached 

 to the Black Mountain Expedition, has now been directed by 

 the Government to make a special study of the grasses and 

 fodders of Upper India. • 



The Times of India says that the Sukkur Bridge, which has 

 been constructed over the Indus, has now been opened. At 

 Sukkur the river is very rapid, but the large island of Bukkur, 

 standing about midway in the stream, was of great assistance in 

 carrying out the plans. There are thus two bridges, one from 

 Bukkur to the left bank, the other from Bukkur to the right 

 bank. The latter consists of three spans, the longest of which is 

 278 feet ; the former, known as the Sukkur Bridge, is in length 

 between the abutments no less than 790 feet. Two cantilevers. 



