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time of year, but if he looked under the skin before they 

 were cooked he would find a large collection of parasites. 

 It occurred to him that, probably, the fish which were 

 diseased were the fish out of season. There was a season 

 for all things, a season for the flowering of plants, and a 

 season of rest, and without the natural rest there would be 

 no bloom. He believed the fault of our country was to 

 rely on fish every day in the year from whatever source it 

 might come. There was a time for all things. Game was 

 not shot except at the proper season, for if they did they 

 might at once repeal the game laws, and by the end of the 

 year there would not be a single bird left. In the same way 

 there should be preservation of fish. Oysters were now at 

 an almost prohibitive price in consequence of the overfishing 

 of the beds, owing to the greater demand, and the facilities 

 offered by railway and steamboat carriage. 



Professor HUXLEY, in reply to Mr. Mackenzie, could 

 not say he thought the distribution of ova from diseased 

 fish was of the smallest consequence. If the ova were 

 attacked by the disease, they would be immediately dis- 

 tinguished and weeded out if the most ordinaiy precau- 

 tions were taken, whilst healthy ova had no power what- 

 ever to transmit disease. 



Mr. WlLMOT said it afforded him much pleasure to be 

 able to say a word or two on this very destructive agency, 

 which was causing so much injury to the rivers of Great 

 Britain, Saprolegnia ferax. It had been his misfortune to 

 have differed with the learned Professor on the protec- 

 tion of the fisheries of the world ; but on this occasion 

 he was glad to offer him his best thanks for the interest- 

 ing lecture he had given on this most important disease. 

 He felt that in this case science was doing most useful 

 work, and hoped that by further investigation, a cure for 



