Reports to the Colon id/ Office. 175 



obtaiiit'd ill Ct'vluii may l>o foiiiul to be of value from ii commercial fxiitit 

 of view ill (.Queensland or a^jiiin iu the West 1 miles (Si)Oii;:e fisheries). 



I am ileeiile<lly of the ojiiuioii that the exjH.'ii(liture of u ccrtniii 

 projKirtioii of the revenue derived from the Ceylon Pearl Fisherie«, 

 nj>oii thoroui,'li and authoritative study of the «|Ufstioiis niis<-<l in Sir W. 

 Twynam's report by the iK-st seieiitifit; natunilists whose services «in Ikj 

 obtaiiKil iiiiLst iu the course of time — if jxrsisted in and sutticiently 

 8Up|>orte<l by money iK>e<Ied for experiments and investi^Mtion — pro<luee 

 a valuable return to the Stiite in the form of increase iu cummercial 

 results. 



A brief inspection of the banks by a capable scientific naturalist or tlie 

 employment of a second-nite man of no real scientific kuowled<;e or 

 tminini; would, in my judixmeiit, l)e a wa-^te of public money. 



I should myself like to see Professor Henlnian, of Liverpool, entruste<l 

 with a two or three vciirs' mission in connection with the Cevlon Pearl 

 Fisheries. He hiis <;iven s]>ecial attention to oysters and oyster fisheries, 

 and is a man of ijenuine kiK>wled^'e and al.so pos.se.s.sed of eiieriry and 

 initiative. It woidd be jtossible for him to give three or four months in 

 each year to his j)rofessional work iu Knirland and to spend the rest of the 

 ywir (at the |iroi>er seiuson) in Ceylon. 



I think that Sir W. Twynam's report miirht very well 1^ submitted to 

 Professor Herdnian for his opinion, and that before takin*,' a definite step 

 it mii:lit l»e well to submit his proposals to the Council of the Royal 

 Society for their advice. Hut I should not recommend that either the 

 Zoolof^ical Society or the Briti.sh Association be consultttl. 



It is evident from Sir W. Twynam's report there are many matters 

 connected with the j>earl l»anks ui>on wliicii a coiiijKjtent naturalist versed 

 in marine biolo<;y could at once clear uj) doubt. For insUince, the 

 mystirioiLs enemy of the oyst^^rs mentioned in the rejiort, which drills a 

 small round hole in their shells. Kvery marine l)iolo^Mst knows at once 

 thai this must be one of the whelk-like <r:istrui)ods, which ])reys ujton the 

 pearl oyster lus do its congeners in EurojK-an seas prey upon European 

 oysters and comb-shells. 



Were a competent natundist, such a^ Professor Herdnian, entrustt'd 

 with a thorough study of the Ceylon iRarl banks, and jtrovidi-d with a 

 well-fitt^'d steam cruiser for dre<lging, sounding, diving, etc., there can be 

 no doubt that, in the first place, zoologioil results of great general inten-st 

 would be obtained, as well as c<tllections of value to the national Museum, 

 and new facts of the most varietl kind tending to advance our knowleilge 

 of marine life. 



I iK'lieve, moreover, that in the se<-ond place such knowle<lge of the 

 facts would Ik." detinitelv gaiiuil as wttuld enal)Ie the CevUtii (Jovrrnment 

 to improve the i«:irl fisheries and to manage them in the i>e«t possible way 

 with a view to getting the proj)er commercial ri-turn from them. 



It is im{H).s>ible to foretell what result* a clever naturalist might 

 obtain. The artificial rearing of the spat of the jtearl oyster and the 

 nursing and tnmsfercnce of the young <)ystcrH as carriwl out in regard to 

 Eur«>]>ean oysters might Ik- found jM.ssible and of immense commercial 

 value. Finally the artificial j)rwluriion of p^^-arls is alwavs, a-s fur as 

 zoological science enables us to form an opinion, a |H>ssibdity. Perhajw 

 I may, in c«^»nclusion, l)e allowed to point out that, some thirty-five years 



