4 MARKETABLE BRITISH MARINE FISHES chap, 



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

 of the mysterious and complicated practice of the fish trade, 

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

 attempting to get at the truth concerning the life and habits of 

 fish. Firstly, he has been trained to appreciate the value of 

 scientific evidence, and is on his guard against jumping at 

 conclusions ; secondly, he can use instruments of precision, 

 which are as essential to the investigation of some of the 

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

 of a fishing vessel. 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 correctl)' of the most probable effect 

 of the measures proposed on the productiveness of the fisheries. 

 Before the year 1 862 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 

 described, 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 Histor)- in the University of 

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

 a systematic investigation of the spawning of herring in the 

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

 corded in the Report of the Royal Commission on the Operation 

 of the Acts relating to Trawling for Herrings on the coasts of 

 Scotland, which Report was published in 1863. Professor 

 Allman dredged up the spawn of the herring from rough rocky 

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

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



