NA TURK 



289 



THURSDAY, JULY 26, 1883 



ZOOLOGY AT THE FISHERIES EXHIBIT/OX 

 I. 



THE manifold relations of zoological science to the 

 various fish industries are, on the whole, fairly well 

 illustrated in the Kensington Exhibition if we take 

 together into consideration all the exhibits of foreign 

 countries, of these islands, and of British colonies. Con- 

 sidered alone, however, the British department is remark- 

 able for the extreme paucity and insignificance of exhibits 

 having any scientific value. This is due to the fact that 

 no attempt was made by those who organised the exhibi- 

 tion to obtain scientific advice and direction, so as to 

 enable them to make application to the individuals or 

 museums possessing objects illustrating the scientific 

 aspects of fish and fisheries, and that no individual with 

 authority and responsibility has attempted to bring to- 

 gether that class of objects — which are abundant enough in 

 both private and public collections in England, and form, 

 on the contrary, a large portion of the exhibits of foreign 

 countries. Thus under the direction of a properly-trained 

 zoologist — Prof. Spencer Baird — the Smithsonian Insti- 

 tute has been able to form a collection which is sent over 

 to this country by the American Government as the 

 offi ial representative collection. It is not an exaggera- 

 tion to say that this collection, both on account of the 

 range and variety of its objects and the instructive way in 

 which they have been disposed and treated by the 

 American Commissioner, Mr. Brown Goode, has been 

 the admiration of all visitors. Similarly the Swedish 

 authorities have intrusted Prof. Smidt with the duty of 

 bringing together objects illustrating the zoological as- 

 pect of fish and fisheries in Sweden. Collections from 

 the museums of Gothenburg and Stockholm and from 

 eminent Swedish zoologists are consequently exhibited 

 in the Swedish department. So also in the case of the 

 Netherlands, of British India, and of New South Wales, 

 we find the well-known naturalists, Prof. Hubrecht, Dr. 

 Francis Day, and Mr. Ramsay, specially charged with 

 such responsibility. 



There can be no doubt that the collections, both public 

 and private, of this country, might have been brought into 

 requisition and made to furnish such an exhibition of 

 marine and freshwater fishes, of their food, of their para- 

 sites, and other enemies, and again of the like objects in 

 relation to oysters (both edible and pearl-bearing), lobsters, 

 sponges, and precious coral, as no other country could 

 possibly bring together. 



The exhibits of zoological specimens may be classed 

 under three heads, viz. (1) those which are strictly zoo- 

 logical, that is to say, intended to illustrate either the 

 aquatic inhabitants of a particular district, or the struc- 

 ture and life history of a particular species ; (2) those 

 of economic significance, illustrating the cultivation 

 or modes of occurrence of an aquatic organism or 

 organisms having a direct commercial importance ; (3) 

 those having an ornamental or personal value, and 

 being of the nature of trophies, such, for instance, as 

 Lady Brassey's case of corals, and the many cases of 

 Vol. xxviii. — No. 717 



dried stuffed s :ins of large trout and pike exhibited by 

 angling societies. 



The most important collection of the first group is one 

 comprising representatives of all classes of marine animals 

 preserved in alcohol, and numbering nearly 400 specimens. 

 It is sent by Dr. Anton Dohrn, the director of the Zoo- 

 logical Station of Naples, and is not placed in the Italian 

 court, but in the Eastern Arcade, since it is sent by a 

 private individual, and not through the Italian Govern- 

 ment. The remarkable feature about this collection is 

 the extraordinary beauty of the specimens in respect of 

 preservation. Every naturalist is aware of the difficulty 

 of getting such creatures as polyps, jelly-fish, and Salpee 

 to retain when placed in a preserving fluid anything like 

 a satisfactory semblance of their living form and colour. 

 To improve the methods of preserving marine organisms 

 for museums and the workshops of comparative ana- 

 tomists has been for some years one of Dr. Dohrn's 

 objects in the work of his "Station," and this collection 

 shows how far he and his assistants have succeeded in 

 devising methods. To appreciate Dr. Dohrn's success, 

 we have only to pass to some of the other collections — 

 very good in their way, and showing the best state of the 

 bottling-art out of Naples — and by the inferiority of the 

 condition of the specimens in the latter we learn Dr. 

 Dohrn's merit. Sudden killing with saturated solution of 

 corrosive sublimate and gradual transfer to strong alcohol 

 is one general method used at Naples for retractile polyps 

 and fragile worms ; brief immersion in weak chromic acid 

 before transfer to weak spirit is another method used for 

 jelly-fish and mollusks ; narcotising by aid of tobacco- 

 fumes another device. But the skilful application of such 

 ingenious processes variously appropriate to this or that 

 kind of animal can only be satisfactorily learnt in the 

 Naples laboratory itself. Accordingly Dr. Dohrn has 

 made arrangements for giving special instruction in this 

 subject to naval officers and others, such persons being 

 admitted for a fee paid by the Governments to which they 

 belong, to a three months' course of instruction in the 

 preservation of marine organisms for scientific purposes. 

 Already, much to the credit of the naval departments of 

 their respective Governments, both German and Italian 

 officers and navy surgeons have been sent to receive such 

 instruction at Naples, and a collection of coral-polyps 

 and Siphonophora has been received from Monte Video, 

 prepared by an Italian officer who had availed himself of 

 the Naples course of instruction. This collection has 

 been pronounced superior in condition and fitness for 

 study to any collection from tropical waters hitherto 

 brought to Europe. A second collection made by the 

 same officer in Magellan Straits is on its way to Europe. 

 There can be no doubt of the very great value of the 

 new line of activity which Dr. Dohrn has traced for the 

 Naples Station. 



The Naples exhibit contains some interesting fish and 

 a particularly fine series of Salpse, of Mollusks, and of 

 Anthozoa and Medusas. It should not be allowed to return 

 to Naples, and we believe is offered for sale. Dr. Dohrn 

 also exhibits the publications, comprising many beautiful 

 coloured plates, of the Naples Zoological Station. The 

 series of volumes illustrating the " Fauna and Flora of 

 the Gulf of Naples " should be in the library of every 

 lover of natural history. 



