512 



NATURE 



[September 22, 1898 



connected with the migrations of fishes. At the same time, he 

 said, it would not do to be too ambitious. The extravagant 

 expectations which were held some years ago as to the beneficent 

 effects of sea-fish hatcheries had not been realised either in 

 America, in Scotland or in Norway. Even if the idea were 

 sound, the actual plan of operation needed modification, since 

 the young fish were being turned into the sea at too early an 

 age. Moreover, he asked, would it not be simpler, and in the 

 end more profitable, to complete the investigation of the whole 

 life-history of valuable fishes before launching upon costly and 

 problematic schemes of fish multiplication ? To ensure the 

 adequate discussion of these and similar problems, the President, 

 in conclusion, expressed the intention of himself and his 

 colleagues to propose the creation of a permanent international 

 committee for the organisation of future congresses on sea- 

 fisheries, which would extend and complete the work initiated 

 by the French Society. 



The subsequent discussions of the congress took place partly 

 at general meetings, partly at the meetings of different sections. 

 Four of the latter were constituted, viz. (l) Scientific Re- 

 searches ; (2) Fishery Apparatus, Preparation and Transport ; 

 (3) Technical Education, and (4) Fishery Regulations. The 

 subjects which came before the general meetings dealt with 

 oyster and mussel culture, provident institutions (insurance 

 against accidents, &c.), international regulations for preventing 

 collisions at sea, and co-operation amongst fishermen. As regards 

 the sectional meetings, the topics of general interest naturally 

 fell chiefly within the scope of the first and fourth sections. In 

 the first section the following were the more important papers 

 read : (i) On the natural history and fishing grounds of the 

 Tunny in the Gulf of Gascony, by M. Odin, in which the 

 author showed that the migrations of the Tunny of these 

 waters are less extensive than was formerly imagined, since the 

 fish can be taken in the Gulf throughout the year, although the 

 actual fishing grounds shift with the seasons ; (2) On the 

 natural history of the mackerel, by Mr. W. Garstang, in which 

 it was maintained that, as a result of researches recently carried 

 out by the Marine Biological Association, the common species 

 of mackerel can be subdivided into several local races, viz. 

 an American, an Irish, and a race common to the English 

 Channel and North Sea. These researches lead to the con- 

 clusion that the winter haunts of the mackerel cannot be 

 situated far from the localities first visited by the several races 

 in the spring ; (3) On a proposed biological and physical 

 investigation of the English Channel during 1899, by Mr. 

 Garstang, in which the author invited the co-operation of French 

 societies and naturalists with the Marine Biological Association 

 for a joint periodic survey of the Channel during the coming 

 year. The proposal was supported by Baron Jules de Guerne 

 and M. Odin, and a resolution on the subject was unanimously 

 adopted ; (4) On the sea-fish hatchery at Flodevigen, by Captain 

 Dannevig (read in his absence by Baron de Guerne). This 

 paper gave rise to a vigorous discussion on the efficacy of 

 hatcheries. Captain Dannevig contended that the success of 

 his methods was attested by the statistics of cod taken in 

 Christiania Fjord, but this statement was categorically denied 

 by Dr. Brunchorst, and also adversely criticised by Dr. FuUarton 

 and M. Canu. 



The principal papers read in the fourth section were as fol- 

 lows : (i) On trawling in territorial waters, by M. Sauton ; 

 (2) On the necessity of new regulations concerning the mesh of 

 drift and fixed nets, by M. Maraud ; (3) Trawling and its 

 effects, by M. Coutant ; (4) On the territorial limits, by Mr. 

 Olsen. The discussion which followed these papers was long 

 and interesting, but cannot be fully summarised here. It will 

 suffice, however, to say that at the subsequent general meeting 

 of the congress a resolution against trawling (of all kinds) 

 within three miles from low-water mark was carried by 37 votes 

 to 9 ; and that other resolutions were carried which would have 

 for effect the prohibition of certain kinds of fishing beyond the 

 present territorial limits, and would prohibit the sale of im- 

 mature fish, the minimtim size for each species to be fixed 

 hereafter by an international commission of fishermen, owners, 

 public officials, and scientific experts. 



It may be stated in conclusion that the memoirs read before 

 the general meetings of the congress are already published 

 (Paris, Augustin Challamel, Rue Jacob 17), and that the papers 

 communicated to the different sections, with the final resolutions 

 of the congress, will be published in a second volume in the 

 course of the next few months. 



NO, 1508, VOL. 58] 



NOTES. 



We are reminded that the new laboratories of Physiology and 

 Pathology, which University College, Liverpool, owes to the 

 generosity of the Rev. S. A. Thompson Yates, will be opened 

 on October 8 by Lord Lister, President of the Royal Society. 

 By his benefaction, Mr. Thompson Yates has strengthened the 

 medical school of the College in a very marked degree, and has 

 enabled the professors of physiology and pathology to take ad- 

 vantage of the most recent additions to our knowledge in their 

 lectures and laboratory instruction. Lord Lister will be accom- 

 panied on the occasion by a large and distinguished party. The 

 Lord Mayor will represent the city ; Earl Spencer, Chancellor of 

 the Victoria University, has promised to attend and admit Lord 

 Lister to the degree of D. Sc. conferred on him by the Victoria 

 University; Lord Derby, President of the College, will be 

 present, with the authorities of the Victoria University and its 

 Colleges. Among those who have accepted the invitation of the 

 College Council maybementioned : the Duke of Devonshire, Lord 

 Derby, Lord Spencer, Lord Ripon, Lord Kelvin, Mr. A. J. 

 Balfour, Prof. Michael Foster and Prof. Riicker (the Secretaries 

 of the Royal Society), Prof. Virchow, Sir Douglas Galton, Sir 

 Samuel Wilks, Sir Richard Thome, the Bishops of Liverpool, 

 Chester, Carlisle, and Ripon, Sir William Gairdner, Mr. Justice 

 Kennedy, Sir James Crichton Browne, Dr. Lauder Brunton, 

 Sir Archibald Geikie, Captain Abney, C.B., Sir George King, 

 Mr. Thiselton-Dyer, Proft Ramsay, Prof. David Ferrier, Dr. 

 Pavy, Mr. R. B. Haldane, Sir John Batty Tuke, Sir Henry 

 Littlejohn, Prof. Schafer, Prof. Burdon-Sanderson, Prof. 

 Kanthack, Prof. Halliburton, Prof. Meldola, Prof. Poulton, the 

 Dean of Lichfield, Prof. Charlton Bastian, the Hon. Sydney 

 Holland, Prof. Rose Bradford, Prof. Forsyth, Prof. Bower, Dr. 

 Alexander Cope, Prof. Crookshank, Prof. Waller, Prof. Noel 

 Paton, Dr. Ludwig Mond, Dr. Mott, Prof. Stirling, Prof. 

 Liveing, Mr. Gerald Yeo, Prof. Macallum, and Dr. Byrom 

 Bramwell. The proceedings will commence with the degree 

 ceremony, which will take place in St. George's Hall at 3 o'clock. 

 Lord Lister will then, with the President, Earl Derby, proceed 

 to open the new laboratories. In the evening a banquet will be 

 given by the Lord Mayor in the City Hall. 



On Sunday, the nth inst., one of the most destructive hurri- 

 canes that has occurred for many years visited Barbados and 

 the Windward Islands, causing immense damage to property 

 and great loss of life. These storms usually occur between July 

 and October, when the equatorial calms are furthest north of 

 the equator ; the late A. Poey, of Havana, compiled a list of all 

 hurricanes observed in the West Indies since 1493, and of these 

 nearly 80 per cent, occurred in those months. They usually 

 commence to the eastward, and travel in a north-westerly 

 direction till they reach about latitude 25° N. , when they re- 

 curve in a north-easterly direction. So far as is known from 

 the meagre reports which have yet been received, this disastrous 

 storm followed the usual track, as the observer of the United 

 States Weather Bureau at Jamaica seems to have forwarded 

 notice through New York that a storm was approaching Bar- 

 bados from the southward on Saturday, the loth inst. ; but, 

 owing to an unfortunate interruption in the cable, the warning 

 arrived too late. The late Rev. B. Vines, S.J., formerly 

 director of Havana Observatory, made a special study of West 

 Indian hurricanes during a period extending over twenty-three 

 years, and shortly before his death (in 1893) prepared a paper 

 upon the subject for the Meteorological Congress at Chicago, 

 which is regarded as the most satisfactory statement of the be- 

 haviour of these storms that has yet been made. This papeV 

 has just been published in a separate form by the United States 

 Weather Bureau. In it the author discusses very completely 

 the general- laws of cyclonic circulation and translation, 



