Soo 



NATURE 



[September 19, 1895 



industr}' on the part of the people, directed by scientific know- 

 ledge. In another direction the successful hatching of large 

 numbers (hundreds of million) of cod and plaice by Captain 

 Danne\Tg in Norway, and by the Scottish Fisher)- Board at 

 Dunbar, o|xrns up possibilities of immense practical value in 

 the way of restocking our exhausted bays and fishing banks — 

 depleted by the over-trawling of the last few decades. 



The demand for the produce of our seas is very great, and 

 would probably pay well for an incre;ised supply. Our choicer 

 fish and shellfish are becoming rarer, and the market prices are 

 rising. The great majority of our oysters are imported from 

 France, Holland, and .America. Even in mussels we are far 

 from being able to meet the demand. In Scotland alone the 

 long line fishermen use nearly a hundred millions of mussels 

 to bait their hooks ever)- time the lines are set, and they have 

 to import annually many tons of these mussels at a cost of from 

 £'^ to ^■3 \os. a ton. . . . 



Whether the wholesale intrijduction of the French method of 

 mussel culture, by means of houchots, on to our shores would 

 be a financial success is doubtful. Material and labour arc 

 dearer here, and beds, scars, or scalps seem, on the whole, better 

 fitted to our local conditions ; but as innumerable young mussels 

 all round our coast perish miserably every year for want of suit- 

 able objects to attach to, there can be no reasonable doubt that 

 the judicious erection of simple st.ikes or plain bouchots would 

 ser\-e a useful purpose, at any rate in the collection of seed, even 

 if the further rearing \k carried on by means of the bed system. 



.All such aipiicuhural processes require, how-ever, in addition to 

 the scientific knowledge, sufficient capital. They cannot be 

 successfully carried out on a small scale. When the zoologist 

 has once shown .xs a lalxiratory ex|x;riment. In the zoological 

 station, that a |iartlcular thing can Ije done — that this fish can be 

 hatched or that shellfish reared under certain conditions which 

 promise to be an industrial success, then the matter should be 

 carried out by the tiovemmcnt' or by capitalists on a sufficiently 

 large scale to remove the risk of results being vitiated by leni- 

 |K)rar)- accident or Iwal variation in the conditions. It Is con- 

 trar)-, however, lo our English traditions for Ciovernnicnl to help 

 in such a matter, and If our local .Sea Fisheries Committees have 

 not the necessary powers nor the available funds, there remains 

 a splendid opportunity for opulent landowners to erect sea-fish 

 hatcheries on the shores of their estates, and for the rich 

 merchants of our great cities to establish aquicullure In their neigh- 

 Ixjuring estuaries, and by so doing. Instruct the fishing p<ipula- 

 tion, resuscitate the declining industries, and cultivate the barren 

 shores — in all reasonable probability to their ow n ultimate profit. 



In addition to the farming of our shores there is a great deal 

 to be done in promoting the fishing Industries on the inshore and 

 offshore grounds along our coast, and in connection with such 

 work the first necessity Is a thorough scientific exploration of 

 our British seas by means of a completely fitted dredging and 

 trawling expedition. .Such exploration can only lie dune in 

 little bits, spasmodically, by private enterprise. From the time 

 of Edward Forljes il has been the delight of British marine 

 zoologists to explore, by means of dredging from yachts <ir hired 

 vessels during their holidays, whatever areas of the neighbouring 

 seas were o[x;n to them. Some of the greatest names In the 

 roll of our ziHilogists, and some of the most cre<litable wiirk In 

 BritL,h zoology, will .alwiiys be associated with dredging expedi- 

 tions. Forlies, Wyville Thomson, Carpenter, Gwyn Jeffreys, 

 M'Intosh, and Norman — one can scarcely think of them without 

 recalling — 



" Hurrah for the dredge, with it.s iron edge, 

 And iu my^licnl triangle, 

 .\nd it-, hided net, with meshes Mt, 

 Odd fi^hcA to entangle I " 2 



M iineer wurk In exploration has been done in the 



1 .tnd other naturalists, and much Is now being done 



■'"-ally by committees or a.ssocl.ations — by the Dublin Koyal 

 .SrKriety on the West rif Irclanil, by Ihe Marine Biological .Vssocla- 



li - • '" ' ly the Fisher)- Board In Scotland, and by the 



I l!io|(,gy Committee in the Irish .Sea ; hut few 



' „ ,;ical committees have the means, Ihe opportu- 



nity, the lime to devote — along with their professional duties — 

 to thni '1'-(ailcd syMcrnntir survey of our whole Brillsh sea-area 



'i.il Itoard or (iovemment llepanment of 

 tific cxperu, and that not merely for the 

 r,;uulalion«, but Mill more, in order llml 

 'V Ik; instituted .ind .-i<|uicultural cx|>eri- 



■ "Ir'-I^Hi^ 'I,:'." Nl- m"ir ,jf Edward Korlics," p. 347). 



NO. 1351, VOL. 52] 



\. 



which is really required. Those who have not had experience of it 

 can scarcely realise how much time, encrg)-, and money it requires 

 to keep up a series of dredging expeditions, how many ilelays, 

 disappointments, expensive accidents and real hardships there 

 are, and how- often the naturalist is tempted to leave unprofitable 

 grountl, which ought to be carefully worked over, for some more 

 favoured si>ot where he knows he can count upon good spoil. 

 .\nd yet it is very necessary that the whole ground — good or bad 

 though It may be from the zoological point of view- — should be 

 thoroughly surveyed, physically and biologically, in order that 

 we may know the conditions of existence which environ our 

 fishes, on their feeding grounds, their spawning grounds, their 

 " nurseries," or wherever they may be. 



The British I'lovernment has done a noble piece of work which 

 will reilound lo its everlasting credit in providing for, and carry- 

 ing out, the Challenger exi>e(lltlon. Now that that great en- 

 terprise is completed, and that the whole scientific worUI Is united 

 in appreciation of the results obtained, it would be a glorious 

 consequence, and surely a ver)' wise action in the interests of the 

 national fisheries, for the Covernment to fit out an expedition, 

 in charge of two or three zoologists and fisheries experts, to 

 spenil a couple of years In exploring more systematically than 

 has yet been done, or can otherwise be ilone, our British coasts 

 from the Laminarian zone down to the deep nuul. No one could 

 be better fitted to organise and direct such an expedition than 

 Dr. John Murray. 



Such a detailed survey of the bottom and the surface waters, 

 of their conditions and their contents, at all times of the year 

 for a couple of years, would give us the kind of Information we 

 require for the solution of some of the more difficult fishery 

 problems — such as the extent and causes of the wanderings of 

 our fishes, which " nurseries" are supplied by particular spawn- 

 ing grounds, Ihe reason of the sudden disappearance of a fish 

 such as the haddock from a locality, and in general the history 

 of our food fishes throughout the year. It Is creditable to our 

 (jovernment tti have done the jiloneer work in exploring llie 

 great ocean, but surely il would be at le.asl equally creditable to 

 them — and perhaps more directly and Immediately profitable, if 

 they look for son>e such return from scientific work — to explore 

 our own seas and our own sea-fisheries. 



There is still another subject connected with the fisheries 

 which the the biologist can do much to elucidate — I mean the 

 diseases of edible animals and the effect upon man of the various 

 diseased conditions. Il is well known thai the consumjHion of 

 mus.sels taken from stagnant or Impure water Is someliuies fol- 

 lowed by severe symptoms of irritant poisoning which may result 

 in rapid death. This " musselling " is due lo the presence of 

 an organic alkaloid or ptomaine, in the liver of Ihe mollusc, 

 formed doubtless by a micro-organism in the Impure water. It 

 Is clearly of ihe greatest imporlance lo determine accur.alcly 

 under what conditions the mussel can become liifecud by the 

 micro-organism, in what stage it is Injurious lo man, and 

 whether, as Is sup]Hised, sleeping in pure water « ilh or wllhout 

 the addition of carbonate of soda will render poisonous mussels 

 fit for food. 



During this last year there has been an outcry, almost 

 amounting lo a scare, and seriously allecting the market,' as to 

 the supposed connection between oysters taken from con- 

 laminaled water and tyjihoid fever. This, like the musselling, 

 is clearly a case for scientific Investigation, and, with my col- 

 league, Prof. Boyce, I have commenced a series of experiments 

 and observations, |)arlly at the Port Krin Biological Station, 

 where we have oysters laid down on ilifl'erent ]iarts of the shore 

 under ver)- different conilltlims, as well as in dishes and tanks, 

 and partly at I'niversily College, Liverpool. 



Our object is lo determine the effect of various conditions of 

 water and bottom upon the life antl health of the oyster, the 

 effect of the additicm of various impurities lo the water, the con- 

 ditions under which the oyster becomes Infected with the typhoid 

 liacilhis, and ihe resulting effect ujion the oyster, the period 

 during which the oyster remains infectious, and l.-vstly, whether 

 any simple pr.icllcable mea.sures can be taken (I) to determine 

 whether an oyster Is Inferted with typhoid, and (2) to reniler such 

 an oyslcr innocuous to man. .\s Prof. Hoyce and I propose to l.iy 

 a i>aper upon this subject before the Section, I shall not occupy 

 further time now by a statemcnl of our methods and results. 



I have proUilily already sufficiently Indicaled lo you ihe 

 exicnl and lm|)orlance of the applications of our science to 



I I am told ih.1t lictwecn December and March the oyster Irade decreased 

 75 per cent. 



