September 3, igo^ 



NATURE 



41:9- 



Heiberg Land are underlain by Carboniferous, with 

 some interesting- volcanic deposits. Tertiary strata 

 were detected on Baumann Fjord, west of King Oscar 

 Land, containing plant remains in an unusual state of 

 preservation. Towards the western side glaciers are 

 neither frequent nor large, owing probably to a 

 deficient precipitation, and no signs were found of 

 their having had a greater extension. 



Thus Dr. Schei's researches corroborate and carry 

 further the work of his predecessors. They show that 

 a plateau-like region of Archaean rocks was submerged 

 — perhaps before the beginning of the- Palaeozoic — and 

 was buried beneath Cambrian, Ordovician, and 

 Silurian deposits, it mav be in orderly succession. 

 These were followed by Devonian and Carboniferous, 

 both marine, and possibly without interruption. After 

 a break, with considerable physical disturbances, some 

 beds of Triassic age were deposited, which are 

 succeeded by Jurassic. .Another great break is only 



(.From the Ceo^^rap/iical Jour,ial.) 



interrupted by isolated Tertiary deposits, and, with the 

 e-xception of a considerable late or post-Glacial sub- 

 mergence, terrestrial conditions may have been 

 since then generallv persistent. 



T. G. BONNEY. 



FISHERIES INVESTIGATION IN IRELAND. 



IREL.AND seems to be happier for the moment than 

 either England or Scotland in the organisation 

 and in the results of its official fisheries research. In 

 England the official Fisheries Department has been for 

 some years under the Board of Trade, and is soon, 

 we believe, to be transferred to the Board of Agri- 

 culture. It has had no laboratories, no boats, and 

 no scientific assistants, and it is no reflection uport 



NO. 1766, VOL. 68] 



H.M. Inspectors of Fisheries in such circumstance* 

 j to say that they have carried on no biological^ 

 I chemical, or other laboratory investigations. 

 ! In Scotland there is the well-known Fikherj^ Board^ 

 provided with laboratories, vessels, arid a ' sea-fish 

 hatchery, and much good scientific work has beert 

 done in the past by Dr. Fulton arid his able staff; 

 but it is said that nearly all the available funds (with- 

 out which practical work cannot be carried on), and 

 the energies of the scientific men, of the Fishery Board' 

 for Scotland have now been diverted for several years- 

 into the service of the international North Sea investi- 

 gation scheme. 



In Ireland matters seem to be managed better^ 

 Competent scientific men are carrying on important 

 investigations having for the most part a direct bear- 

 ing on the local fisheries, and there seem to be 

 sufficient funds not only to meet the necessary ex- 

 penses of the work, but also to publish the results in 

 suitable form — with coloured plates and other good 

 ustrations. Across tfte Irish Sea there is a 

 : " fisheries branch " in the Department of Agriculture; 

 and Technical Instruction, and the two names that 

 appear prominently in connection with the work — ■ 

 YVm. Spotswood Green and E. W. L. Holt— are ones 

 i that command respect from marine biologists and from 

 j fisheries experts alike. Mr. Green is Chief Inspector 

 ' of Fisheries, and Mr. Holt is his scientifid adviser, and 

 ; from what we know of the work accomplished the 

 combination seems a good one. The department in 

 question has now issued the " Report on the Sea and 

 Inland Fisheries of Ireland for 1901," in which, for 

 ' th'- first time, afe the report of the scientific adviser 

 states, a part ii. on scientific investigations appears- 

 as a separate volume. It contains a couple of hundred 

 pages and more than twenty plates, and Mr. Holt — 

 for it is evidently "very largely his work — and the de- 

 partment, and k\l others concerned, are to be con- 

 gratulated on its appearance. The volume is entitled 

 the report for 1901, but we notice occasional refer- 

 ences to work done in 1902, and it contains the trans- 

 lation of a Norwegian paper said to be published in 

 1902. There is no harm in this, but we may be allowed 

 to hope that the volumes for 1902 and 1903 will follow 

 soon. 



After a brief report from the scientific adviser to 

 the chief inspector dealing with sea fisheries, inland 

 fisheries, and the Cork Exhibition (1902), there follows 

 an appendix, which is the main part of the book and 

 ! contains a number of memoirs by Mr. Holt and his 

 colleagues which are of both scientific and economic 

 value. Amongst these we may note a brief account 

 of a fishing survey of the Porcupine Bank, which is 

 supplemented bv a'paper on the rock specimens trawled 

 from the floor of the Atlantic and examined by Prof. 

 Grenville Cole and Mr. T. Crook ; a paper on Copepoda 

 and one on Nudibranchiata by Mr. G. P. Farran ; a 

 useful paper on the British and Irish gobies, by Mr. 

 Holt and Mr, Byrne, which is illustrated by two 

 beautiful coloured" plates and a number of figures in 

 the text; an account of an investigation of the oyster 

 beds of Wicklow and Wexford; and a translation of 

 A. WoUebaek's three papers ori oyster culture from 

 "Norsk Fiskeritidende. " The section on inland 

 fisheries has papers and reports on salmon, pollen, and 

 trout. _ 



It is interesting to notice that Mr. Holt speaks ot 

 his oyster investigation as " part of the systematic 

 examination of all our eastern fishing grounds, whiclr 

 is an item in the work of the scientific section of the 

 fisheries branch." That is a programme such as we 

 should expect from Mr. W. S. Green, and we have 

 no doubt it will be ably carried out by Mr. Holt. 



