MARK BRITISH MAKIXF. HSIIKS 



sick while at sea, although also he may be as ignorant as a baby 

 of the nr and complicated practice of the fish trade, 



still he has two advantages over the professional fish-man in 

 .pting to get at the truth concerning the life and habits of 

 he has been trained to appreciate the value of 

 scientific evidence, and is on his guard against jumping at 

 cone!. nelly, he can use instruments of precision, 



which ar -cntial to the investigation of some of the 



matters in question as the compass and the lead to the handling 

 of a fishi: With regard to the practical importance of 



the naturalist's researches and results to the fishing industry, it 

 can only be said that there is no doubt about it. It is an un- 

 deniable fact that Parliamentary' legislation and local bye-laws 

 are at the present time constantly being demanded or proposed 

 for the benefit of the fisheries, and the reasons by which these 

 proposals and demands are supported consist largely of state- 

 ments concerning the natural history of the fishes and other 

 marine creatures concerned. It is necessary, therefore, that we 

 should be able to test the correctness of these statements, and 

 should be able to judge correctly of the most probable effect 

 of the measures proposed on the productiveness of the fisheries. 

 Before the year 1862 very little attention had been given by 

 experienced naturalists to the natural history of sea-fishes, 

 particularly of those valuable in the market. There are, it is 

 true, numerous important books of older date in which fishes are 

 : ibed, such as those of Yarrell and Couch, giving an in- 

 clusive account of British and Irish fishes. But the information 

 in these works concerning the habits and history of the fish is 

 scanty and not always correct. An important advance in our 

 knowledge of the herring was made in 1862, when Mr. Allman, 

 then Professor of Natural History in the University of 

 Edinburgh, at the request of the Scottish Fishery Board, made 

 ..itic investigation of the spawning of herring in the 

 Firth of Forth. The principal results of this inquiry arc re- 

 corded in the Report of the Royal Commission on the Operation 

 "f tl dating to Trawling for Herrings on the coasts of 



Scotland, which Report was published in 1863. Professor 

 Allman dredged up the >p.iwn of the herring from rough rocky 

 ground near the Isle of May at depths of 14$ to 20 fathoms. 

 The eggs were firmly glued to stones, shingle, empty shells and 



