December 5, 1895J 



NA TURE 



117 



ifting Kite " in the National, and expatiates upon its superiori- 

 ties over the balloon. The machine consists of a varying number 

 (usually four or five) of sails of a flattened hexagonal shape. 

 These are connected, one behind the other, to the ground-line, 

 from which latter is susjiended a basket-car, which has a para- 

 chute spread out above it in case of accident. The number of 

 kites required to lift the car depends upon the wind. Lieut. 

 Powell has tried his kites on several occasions, once during the 

 meeting of the British Association at Ipswich, and though the 

 result has in a few cases been disappointing, yet on the whole 

 they have been very successful. To sum up, he remarks : " We 

 have here a machine capable of lifting a man safely to a height, 

 which has many advantages over a balloon. It is infinitely more 

 portable ; it is infinitely less costly. It requires no reserve sup- 

 plies, and is not precluded from ascending by too much wind. 

 It is practically invulnerable, and it promises to be of use 

 in many circumstances rendering a balloon impracticable." 

 What Lieut. Baden Powell specially wants is that the War 

 Department, or the Treasury, should thoroughly investigate his 

 invention and completely put it to the test. Our present Army 

 Balloon establishment costs ;if30oo a year, and Lieut. Powell 

 thinks, most of this would be saved if the air-car wer2 used, and 

 with no loss of efficiency. 



In a long paper contributed to the same Review, Mr. Mortimer 

 Granville gives to the world " A New Theory of Gout." It is 

 for students of chemical physiology and pathology to estimate 

 the value of the evidence brought forward ; all we need do is to 

 indicate the kind of conclusions arrived at, viz. : ( i ) That gout is 

 not a malady having for its cause an over-production of uric 

 acid. (2) Gout is a malady which has for its cause the presence 

 in the organism of an undue proportion of leucocytes, not neces- 

 sarily in the blood, but in the organs and tissues generally. (3) 

 If this view of gout be the true one, the treatment t)f the malady 

 must be the treatment of leuchremia or anaemia. In other words, 

 efforts should be made, by means of a meat diet, to multiply the 

 red corpuscles in the blood, and so assist in bringing about a 

 reduction of the white corpuscles— uric acid makers — within 

 normal limits. 



In Scribner's Magazine, under the title ' ' Wild Beasts as they 

 Live," Captain C. J. Melliss, a well-known authority on lion 

 and tiger hunting, describes those animals from a sportsman's 

 point of view, his article being illustrated by reproductions from 

 a remarkable series of etchings of wild animals, by Evert van 

 Muyden. Among the articles in A'';/<?w/t'^<?, we notice "The 

 Filtration of Water," by Dr. S. Rideal ; " Whip Scorpions and 

 their Ways," by Mr. R. I. Pocock ; and "New Stars," by Dr. 

 A. Brester. 



A passing reference must suffice for the remaining articles on 

 •scientific subjects in the magazines received by us. A paper on 

 *' The Limits of Natural Selection," contributed to \\\g. Humani- 

 tarian by Prof. C. Lloyd Morgan, is accompanied by a portrait 

 of the author. A description of the arrangements made for the 

 International Exhibition of 1900, with a plan showing where 

 the exhibition will be placed, how the grounds will be divided, 

 and what will be the names of the principal buildings, is given 

 in the Century. Mrs. Lecky has in Longman^ s a very interest- 

 ing account of the Institute of France, and the recent centenary 

 -celebrations. Among thesubjects of popular articles in Chambers's 

 Journal, we notice "The Metal Platinum," " Living Barome- 

 ters," " Ivory," "Our Simian Cousins," "The Ancient Incas of 

 Peru." 



In addition to the magazines mentioned in the foregoing, we 

 have received the Fortnightly Review, Strand Magazine, Good 

 Words, and the Sunday Magazine, but no articles in them call 

 for comment here. 



SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATIONS OF THE 

 FISHERY BOARD FOR SCOTLAND. 



'T'HE part of the thirteenth annual report of the Fishery Board 

 -*■ for Scotland, dealing with the principal scientific investiga- 

 ttons carried on in 1894, in comiection with the sea fisheries 

 under the charge of the Board, has recently been issued. An 

 idea of the scope and value of the work done may be obtained 

 from the following summary : — 



In the course of the year, the investigations, which were 

 <;arried out under the supervision of Dr. T. Wemyss Fulton, 

 were prosecuted on the same general lines as in previous years, 

 .and have resulted in further extensions of knowledge respecting 

 the life-histories and habits of the fishes which form the basis of 



NO. 1362, VOL. 53] 



the fishing industr)', and of the operation of certain methods of 

 fishing in relation to the food supply. Besides such inquiries, 

 which are necessary for the proper conservation and regulation 

 of sea fisheries, the operations in the hatching and artificial 

 propagation of some of the more important food fishes have 

 been continued at Dunbar Marine Hatchery, which was com- 

 pleted last year, and which have resulted in the addition of over 

 forty-five millions of the fry of plaice, turbot and cod to the 

 fishing-grounds along the neighbouring coast. Similar establish- 

 ments are now in operation in the United States, Canada, 

 Newfoundland and Norway, and others are in process of being 

 formed in France and in Lancashire. 



As in previous years a large part of the scientific inquiries, 

 both biological and physical, have been carried on or rendered 

 possible by means of the Garland, the small steamer obtained 

 by the Board for this work ; but, as has been mentioned in pre- 

 vious reports, her small size has curtailed the extent and useful- 

 ness of the investigations. 



Part of the scientific work was also carried on at the marine 

 laboratories at St. Andrews and Dunbar. 



The Hatching and Rearing of Food Fishes. 



In last year's report the reasons which induced the Board to 

 establish a hatchery for sea-fishes at Dunbar were given, together 

 with a detailed description and plans of the building, and an 

 account of the work during the first season it was in operation. 

 The present report contains an account by Mr. Harald Dannevig, 

 who is in charge of the hatching work, of what has been accom- 

 plished during the current season, and of the work now in progress. 

 It is satisfactory to be able to note that the various pumping and 

 incubating apparatus have continued to work well and without 

 any hitch, and that the number of fry of the food fishes which 

 have been successfully dealt with this season considerably exceeds 

 the number turned out last year. 



The great majority of the young food fishes which have been 

 propagated have consisted of plaice, of which 44,085,000 eggs 

 were obtained from the spawning pond, yielding 38,615,000 fry. 

 The number of cod hatched numbered 2,760,000, and the 

 number of turbot 3,800,000. This seems to be the first time 

 that the eggs of the turbot have been hatched at any hatchery, 

 and the success in this respect has enabled the development of 

 this important fish to be studied and described by Prof. 

 M'Intosh. 



In regard to the practical results of marine pisciculture in 

 adding to the fish supply, it may be stated that in the United 

 States, Newfoundland and Norway — where cod alone has been 

 propagated on a large scale — according to the official reports 

 published in these countries the abundance of young cod has 

 been materially increased. In the neighbourhood of the hatchery 

 on Dildo Island, Newfoundland, the shoals of this fish were so 

 numerous during the past season that they were described as a 

 " solid thick mass covering the bottom for long distances on both 

 sides of the island," and it is stated that fishermen from other 

 parts, on hearing of the abundance of cod, came to Dildo to fish. 

 Sufficient time has not, of course, elapsed since active operations 

 were begun at Dunbar to afford any indication as to the influence 

 of the work in increasing the fish supply, but there are some 

 points of importance that may be considered in connection with 

 the subject. There can be no doubt that the great majority of 

 the fry distributed on the fishing grounds are destroyed from 

 natural causes ; but if only a fraction of one per cent, survive, 

 the resulting benefit would far exceed the expenditure upon the 

 work. If one in a hundred of the fry distributed from the 

 hatchery survived, and if the price of the marketable fish be 

 placed at sixpence, the resulting value to the fisheries would be 

 about £i?>,(XX). It would require the survival of only one in a 

 thousand, and the marketable fish to be sold at only one penny 

 each, to cover the expenses of the work. 



The Influence of Marine Currents in Transporting 

 Floating Eggs and Larv>e from Offshore Spawning 



Areas. 

 Previous investigations have shown that the inshore waters are 

 destitute of spawning grounds for the great majority of the food 

 fishes, and that they receive their supplies from the spawning 

 areas situated at some distance from shore. In the present 

 report a preliminary account is given, by Dr. T. Wemyss Fulton, 

 of experiments which have been made to determine the influence 

 of marine currents in transporting the floating eggs and young 

 fishes to various parts of the coast. It is shown that they may 

 be carried in the course of their development long distances in a 



