494 



NA TURE 



[March 23, 1893 



together in fleets., and remained out on the grounds for 

 weeks at a time, steam was introduced, and the east-side 

 of the North Sea visited. It was a " roaring trade," and 

 many were made wealthy by it. Now things are changed, 

 and every one cries out that the balance has been over- 

 turned, that the fish are being caught faster than the 

 stock is being kept up : this, in spite of what was once 

 said as to the amount of fish which could be taken from 

 one acre of sea-bottom. It is possible to fix close times 

 during which salmon and trout must not be taken from 

 certain rivers, and to hatch fry which will remain in the 

 one district. It is another matter to apply close seasons, 

 or fix standard sizes for areas of the open sea. From 

 what we know of life at the sea-bottom it is pretty certain 

 that if one of the conditions necessary for keeping up a 

 true balance of nature is removed or greatly lessened, the 

 proportional arrangement of the remaining fauna is also 

 interfered with, for since marine animals prey largely upon 

 each other it follows that if one class of devourers is re- 

 moved, the devoured become more numerous, which again 

 seriously affects other classes. 



For this reason an over-fished oyster or mussel bed if 

 left to itself, or not properly regulated, will probably 

 never regain its former condition, a fact brought out with 

 great clearness in the course of the evidence taken before 

 Lord Balfour of Burleigh, at the Board of Trade Confer- 

 ence last June. With free swimming round fish the con- 

 dition is somewhat analogous, although more knowledge is 

 required concerning their migratory movements. If the 

 natural balance is interfered with, the result, although at 

 first it may be only to increase certain other forms which 

 are also of advantage to man, will eventually appear when 

 useless or unprofitable fishes remain in the majority, or 

 when the appearance of a once common and useful species 

 is no longer present in the market. 



If human interference can so alter the marketable 

 productivity of the sea, and materially lessen the incomes 

 of a large portion of a nation, surely it becomes a duty to 

 study the application of such sciences as deal directly 

 with the animals concerned. If by continual fishing the 

 only available grounds became depleted, it is by a 

 thorough study of the actual cause and effect, and the 

 application of the principles of natural history involved, 

 that the only true remedy is to be found. 



W. L. Calderwood. 



THE SOUTH KENSINGTON LABORATORIES 



AND RAILWAY. 

 'T'HE friends of science throughout the country may 

 *■ be congratulated upon the fact that work in the 

 laboratories of the Royal College of Science and of the 

 City and Guilds Institute is not to be rendered impossi- 

 ble by the building of a railway along Exhibition Road. 

 Sir John Kennaway, the chairman, and the members of 

 the House of Commons Committee deserve the best 

 thanks of the community for their unanimous rejection 

 of the scheme even if only partly on scientific grounds. 

 When the evidence given before the committee comes to 

 be pubhshed there will be some curious reading. Lord 

 Kelvin, the President of the Royal Society, informed the 

 committee of what was at stake, and gave his opinion as 

 to the question both of mechanical and electrical dis- 

 turbance. The paid " scientific experts " in their pleading 

 on the side of the company promoters may be said to 

 have almost eclipsed the usual " emphasis" of statement. 

 We may refer to this evidence later, but in the meantime 

 the following quotation from a leader in the Times in- 

 dicates the general opinion as to the importance of the 

 result which has been achieved : — 



" What makes the history of this Bill novel and interesting 

 i> the second line of attack adopted by its opponents. On either 

 side of Exhibition Road stand two of the most important 

 scientific institutions in London. One of these — the Royal 



NO. 122 I, VOL. 47] 



College of Science— is supported by the State ; the other was 

 founded by the City and Guilds of London for the promotion of 

 advanced technical education The former of these institutions, 

 and the great collection of scientific instruments which is being 

 formed at South Kensington, make an organised whole. This 

 collection, which includes the earlier and the latest instruments, 

 is invaluable both historically and practically ; and is in 

 close proximity to the lecture-halls and laboratories where 

 use can be made of the instruments. 7he collection and the 

 laboratories are used not only by many other students, but by 

 the large number of national scholars and exhibitioners who, 

 after the annual May examination of the Science and Art 

 Department, are brought up from all parts of the country, chiefly 

 at the public expense. These students, and the deserving lads 

 who work at the City and Guilds Institute, form an important 

 element in the situation ; for to them the advent of an electricaJ 

 railway was a serious peril. It was shown, and admitted, that 

 the magnetic disturbances in the neighbourhood of the South 

 London Railway are so great that no accurate magnetic work 

 can be done within some hundreds of yards of it . Now the pro- 

 posed Paddington and Clapham Railway would run, not some 

 hundreds of yards from the South Kensington laboratories, but 

 within forty feet of some of them ; and there was a genuine fear 

 on the part of the Professors that at such small distances it 

 would be impossible not only to accurately neutralise the con- 

 flicting forces, but to prevent the astronomical instruments being 

 affected by the earth-tremors caused by the passage of trains. 

 This view was urged by Lord Kelvin, perhaps the greatest 

 living authority on such matters, and by Profs. Norman 

 Lockyer, Ayrton, Riicker, and Boys ; and after a contest which 

 lasted three days their view prevailed, and the committee found 

 the preamble of the Bill 'Not proved.' The men of science 

 are to be congratulated on the result. A year or more ago they 

 successfully defended their South Kensington preserve against 

 the invasion of Art ; and it would be pitiful indeed if Science 

 were now to be put in jeopardy by a practical application of 

 herself. It appears that electricity cannot be studied in the 

 neighbourhood of an electric railway ; naturally, then, we can- 

 not have an electric railway close to the great central institution 

 where electrical science is taught at the public expense." 



NOTES. 

 The annual general meeting of the Institution of Naval 

 Architects is being held this week in the rooms of the Society 

 of Arts, which have been lent for the purpose. The proceed- 

 ings began yesterday (Wednesday) morning, and will conclude 

 to-morrow evening. The meeting is one of more than usual 

 importance in the history of the Institution from the fact that 

 the president, the Earl of Ravensworth, is resigning the posi- 

 tion Twhich he has so well filled for a period of fourteen years 

 Lord Ravensworth is the second president the Institution has 

 had, he having succeeded to the chair on the death of Lord 

 Hampton, who first occupied the position. The new president 

 is Lord Brassey, whose great interest in all maritime questions 

 well qualifies him for the post. Lord Ravensworth will not 

 sever his connection with the Institution, as he will accept the 

 position of a vice-president. The following is the programme 

 of the present meeting : — Wednesday, March 22. — Morning 

 meeting, at twelve o'clock : Annual report of Council ;. address 

 by the president (the Earl of Ravensworth) ; on the present 

 position of the cruiser in warfare, by Rear-Adiniral S. Long ;. 

 on approximate curves of stability, by W. Hok, Thursday, 

 March 23. — Morning meeting, at twelve o'clock: Some considera- 

 tions relating to the strength of bulkheads, by Dr. F, Elgar \. 

 on the measurement <5i wake currents, by George A. Calvert ; 

 on the new Afonasieff's formulae for solving approximately 

 various problems connected with the propulsion of ships, by 

 Captain E. E. Goulaeff. Evening meeting, at seven o'clock t 

 Some experiments on the transmission of heat through tube- 

 plates, by A. J. Durston ; some notes on the testing of boilers, 

 by J. T. Milton. Friday, March 24. — Morning meeting, at 

 twelve o'clock : On an apparatus for measuring and registering 

 the vibrations of steamers, by Herr E. Otto Schlick ; on the re- 



