54 



NA TURE 



[November i6, 1899 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 

 [The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions ex- 

 pressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake 

 to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected 

 manuscripts intended for this or any other part of Nature. 

 No notice is taken of anonymous communications. '\ 



Coccospheres and Rhabdospheres. 



I RECENTLY learned with much surprise from Sir John 

 Murray that the German Valdivia expedition failed to dis- 

 cover anywhere in the ocean either Coccospheres or Rhabdo- 

 spheres. Since the earlier Plankton expedition under Prof. 

 Hensen had also failed to find any of these organisms, a certain 

 amount of doubt has been privately expressed in Germany and 

 elsewhere as to the validity of the results obtained by Mr. V. H, 

 Blackman and myself. 



In addition to our Atlantic work (published in Phil. Trans., 

 1898) on this subject, I may state that, through the agency of 

 Captains Cowie, Leigh and Wright, of the P. and O. Company, 

 we have obtained these organisms from the Indian Ocean. 



I have, however, received most welcome confirmation from 

 Mrs. Weber van Bosse, who is with her distinguished husband 

 on board H.M. Siboga engaged in the Dutch expedition in 

 Malayan waters. She writes :— " Will you kindly insert a little 

 note in a paper to state that the Siboga expedition found Cocco- 

 sphaera pelagica and C. leptopora both in the Ceram and Banda 

 Seas ? We get them floating in the water with the horizontal 

 cylinder of Hensen. ... I found also Rhabdoliths, but as yet 

 no Rhabdospheres. I am looking out for them," &c. 



November lo. George Murray. 



The Stockholm Fisheries Conference. 



As the British Government was represented by official dele- 

 gates at the recent International Fisheries Conference at Stock- 

 holm, and took part in its proceedings presumably with th e 

 view of undertaking fishery investigations upon a more extended 

 scale in the future than it has previously done, the resolutions 

 of the Conference (see p. 34) are of more than usual interest 

 and importance to marine biologists in this country. For this 

 reason I would ask you to allow me space for some remarks 

 upon them. 



The general plan of the investigations proposed by the Con- 

 ference, both as regards hydrographical and biological work, 

 will, I believe, meet with the approval of all competent judges, 

 though doubtless minor differences of opinion as to details 

 will be found. The researches suggested are a continuation, 

 upon a more extended scale, of those which the various bodies 

 undertaking fishery investigations in this country have been 

 endeavouring to carry out in so far as the limited means at their 

 disposal have permitted, and there can be no doubt that only 

 by the prosecution of such investigations can that accurate 

 knowledge be acquired upon which a rational treatment of 

 fishery questions may be based. 



Two points only relating to the schemes of investigation pro- 

 posed by the Conference call for comment. In the first place, 

 with regard to the value of international co-operation in such 

 investigations it may be pointed out that, in case the scheme 

 should not be carried out in its entirety, such cooperation is of 

 greater importance in the hydrographical than in the biological 

 work, since in the former simultaneous observations made by 

 identical methods over great areas are of primary importance, a 

 condition which does not apply to an equal extent to the latter. 

 This, however, does not affect what is, perhaps, the chief argu- 

 ment in favour of international co-operation, and one which is 

 given a prominent place in the preamble to the resolutions of 

 the Conference, namely, that any attempt to regulate the fisheries 

 of the high seas can only be carried out by international agree- 

 ment. Whether or not any such international agreement can 

 be regarded as reasonably probable, or whether, if attained, the 

 regulation could be made effective, are certainly questions open to 

 doubt. 



In the second place, from the point of view of British 

 fisheries as a whole, the area proposed by the Conference to 

 be covered by the hydrographical investigations should be 

 extended to include the English Channel, the Irish Sea and the 

 western coasts of the British Isles. Even in considering the 

 North Sea fisheries alone such an extension is of importance, 

 since it has been clearly demonstrated that water from the 

 Channel enters the southern part of the North Sea from time to 



NO. 1568, VOL. 61] 



time, and the fauna of this region is known to contain a consider- 

 able number of southern forms, which show it to be in reality 

 an extension of the Channel fauna. 



In attempting to give effect to the recommendations of the 

 Stockholm Conference, what appears to be the most satis- 

 factory course for the British Government to pursue is to- 

 develop and as far as possible coordinate the work of the various 

 organisations already in existence, namely, the Marine Bio- 

 logical Association (either as at present constituted, or with a 

 more intimate connection with the Fisheries Department of the 

 Board of Trade), the Scientific Department of the Scottish 

 Fishery Board, and the Fishery Department of the Royal 

 Dublin Society, at the same time encouraging the formation of 

 local laboratories established by County Councils and other 

 bodies at various points around the coast, such as those of 

 Liverpool (at Port Erin), Piel, CuUercoats and Millport. 



For the actual carrying out of the proposed investigations the 

 two essential requirements are (i) a sufficient number of capable 

 naturalists devoting their whole energies to the Jwork, and 

 (2) sea-going steamships efficiently equipped. The various 

 laboratories around the coast would form valuable ports of call 

 or depots for the vessels engaged in the investigations. The 

 elaborate and expensive organisation of a central bureau and of 

 a central laboratory proposed by the Stockholm Conference ap- 

 pears to me to be a matter of only secondary importance, against 

 which some objections may be made. To coordinate the investi- 

 gations of the different countries, and to insure such uniformity 

 of method as will make the results of the different observers 

 comparable, an international Council, composed chiefly of the 

 experts actually responsible for carrying out the investigations, 

 and meeting once a year, seems an adequate arrangement. 



With an elaborate organisation such as that suggested by the 

 Conference there is a danger that the work of the biological 

 stations would degenerate into the mere taking and recording of 

 routine observations, whilst original work and the development 

 of new methods of research, which are in reality of far greater 

 importance, would receive a check. Good men would certainly 

 not be attracted to work which consisted merely in recording 

 observations taken according to a stereotyped plan dictated by a 

 central bureau. A large amount of individual freedom to the 

 workers is absolutely essential in order to secure the best results 

 from scientific research. For these reasons a more elastic organ- 

 isation than that of the international central bureau 

 by the Stockholm Conference would seem to be preferable. 



The Laboratory, Plymouth. E. J. Allen. 



Sextant-Telescopes. 



I RECENTLY made the attempt to attach one of the prism 

 forms of binocular to a sextant in place of the ordinary telescope, 

 and it seemed that such an adaptation would materially increase 

 the usefulness of the instrument and add to the accuracy of its 

 records. In the sextant which I used there was no prevision 

 for rigorous attachment, and only a device of a temporary char- 

 acter could be adopted ; but a very slight modification in the 

 construction of the instrument or of the so-called "up and 

 down piece" would overcome this drawback. 



I am inclined to believe that very frequently only a plain 

 sight is used in observations at sea, and that in many ca.ses, 

 where some optical power is employed, an ordinary Galilean 

 opera-glass, with a power of about three, is preferred. The 

 telescope usually supplied, which will give a power of from ten- 

 to fourteen, has so many drawbacks that its use is not popular, 

 at least in the Mercantile Marine. The field is small, the 

 telescope inverts, and the sextant is obliged to be held at a 

 considerable distance from the body, so that if the framework- 

 be not made of aluminium it becomes heavy and burdensome. 



The prism opera-glass which I used was made by Messrs. 

 Goerz, of Ilolborn Circus, and among other advantages over 

 the ordinary form, it gave more light in the field of view, of 

 obvious importance in judging of the position of a dimly 

 illuminated horizon, . Also there was a direct view, so that the 

 ordinary methods of observing needed no modification, and the 

 field was sufficiently large to enable the object to be followed 

 with ease. The power was about nine, quite as high probably 

 as could be used on the deck of a ship with advantage ; but I 

 imagine it would be preferable in surveying work to use the 

 highest power constructed, which gives a magnification of 

 twelve. Possibly fifteen might be reached with advantage. 1 



Liverpool Observatory. W. E. Plummer. 



