October i6, 1919] 



NATURE 



^ro 



many of the activities are very specific and very 

 intricate, yet there can be no help from parental 

 instruction. " In the vast majority of species the 

 parent is dead long before the daughter comes to 

 that stage of existence when the necessity for 

 making provision for her progeny arises, so the 

 knowledge has to pass by way of transmitted 

 memory. Somewhere in the minute speck of proto- 

 plasm constituting the e^%^ of one of the solitary 

 bees there is an infinitesimal particle of nerve 



(two of which are here reproduced) deserve high 

 praise, both the photographs by the author and 

 the drawings by Mr. Carreras. 



(3) Mr. Robson's little book attempts the im- 

 possible, and does not succeed. The space is, 

 indeed, inadequate for an interesting account of 

 the inhabitants of the seashore, but it might have 

 been used more skilfully ; the illustrations are not 

 very happy ; there are several inaccuracies in 

 the brief text ; and there are far too many mis- 



FlG. I. — Leaf-cutter Bee. The left photo shows the bee at work. The right photo is a section of an old post and shows the thimble-shaped 

 cells made from the cut portions of leaves. Kronl " Insect Artizans and their Work." 



•matter which contains the secret of how to cut 

 :accurate circles and ovals of rose-leaf so that a 

 number of them will overlap and curve into a 

 perfect cylinder. During the greater part of its 

 life the creature that hatches out from that e:%% 

 will have no need of the secret, but the germ of 

 it will go on developing, and when the insect has 

 attained to the complete bee form there is the 

 idea in the memory cells ready to instruct the 

 nerves that govern the action of wings and legs 

 and cutting jaws." We have quoted this at 

 length, for it expresses Mr. Step's view of the 

 .big riddle that lies behind his book. Unfor- 

 tunately, we do not know how the secret is kept 

 in the egg before there is any particle of nerve 

 matter, or how the insects get the knowledge 

 which forms the contents of the transmitted 

 •memory, or whether they really have an idea 

 which instructs the nerves. But the author usually 

 chooses the wise path of keeping to the facts, 

 and gives us a charming account of spinners and 

 weavers, miners and masons, carpenters and 

 wood-workers, upholsterers, wax-workers, paper- 

 makers, tailors, horticulturists, sanitary officers, 

 musicians, burglars, and lamp-bearers. The book 

 ds fresh and competent, and the illustrations 



NO. 2607, VOL. 104] 



prints. Several excellent inexpensive guides to 

 the seashore, as much within children's compass 

 as this book is, are readily available. 



THE RECONSTRUCTION OF THE 

 FISHING INDUSTRY. 



IN November of last year the National Sea 

 Fisheries Protection Association made pro- 

 posals for a unification of fishery administration, 

 and it embodied these in a " Memorandum " 

 (which was referred to in Nature of November 28, 

 igi8, p. 248). The memorandum was submitted 

 to Mr. Prothero, who doubtless acquainted the 

 Cabinet with its provisions, but that was all that 

 happened. Eight months afterwards the Govern- 

 ment introduced a Bill for the establishment of a 

 Standing Fishery Advisory Committee, and for 

 the removal of the statutory limitation of the 

 salary of the President of the Board of Agricul- 

 ture and Fisheries ! 



The 1918 memorandum recommended the crea- 

 tion of a United Kingdom Ministry of Fisheries, 

 but its authors found that they were " up against " 

 the opposition of the Scottish industry. So when 

 a special joint committee of the association pre- 



