March 2, 1882 | : 
NATURE 
the Prince of Wales, and under State recognition, with 
the co-operation of the Worshipful Company of Fish- 
- mongers. At a private meeting held in July, 1881, it was 
determined by a few leading gentlemen, interested in the 
welfare of the great fishing industries, to follow up the 
National Fisheries Exhibition at Norwich by calling a 
public meeting in order to discuss the desirability of 
holding an International Fisheries Exhibition in London 
in 1883. A meeting was accordingly held at Fishmongers’ 
Hall in August, 1881, under the presidency of the 
Marquis of Exeter, and Resolutions were unanimously 
passed approving the idea as likely to be of the greatest 
benefit and importance to fishing industries throughout 
the world. A General and Executive Committee were 
then formed, and great progress has since been made in 
preliminary arrangements. 
The Committee, we are assured, have bestowed long 
and anxious consideration on the frospectus of the 
proposed Exhibition. The classification, which has been 
compiled with the assistance of leading scientific men, 
comprises every object adapted for exhibition, illustrative 
of Sea and Fresh Water Fisheries ; the preparation, pre- 
servation, and utilisation of Fish; Fish Culture; the 
Natural History of Fish, and Literature connected with 
Fishing. It is proposed to give prizes on important 
subjects connected with fishing; and, with a view of 
turning the Exhibition to practical account, conferences 
are to be held for the purpose of reading and discussing 
subjects specially connected with the fishing industries. 
The Exhibition is to be opened on the Ist of May, 1883. 
In order to illustrate the great extent and magnitude of 
the fishing industries of the United Kingdom, it may be 
stated that, at the lowest calculation, 550,000 tons of fish 
are annually taken in British waters by our own fisher- 
men ; that, according to Professor Huxley, 3,000,000,000 
herrings are annually taken in the North Sea alone ; that 
130,629 tons of fish were delivered in Billingsgate Market 
in one year ; and that the fisheries of the United Kingdom ~ 
are carried on by about 35,000 boats and vessels, giving 
employment to no less than 110,000 people afloat. 
To carry out the proposed Exhibition on an adequate 
scale, it is proposed to open immediately a subscription 
list for the general and prize fund, and also a subscription 
list for a guarantee fund, to provide against contingent 
liabilities in the event of the proceeds of the Exhibition 
proving insufficient to meet the expenditure. The Fish- 
mongers Company have already promised the sum of 
500/. for the general and prize fund, and 2,000/. to the 
guarantee fund. 
‘The Exhibition will be divided into seven classes, each 
with many subdivisions :—I. Fishing, in two sections, Sea 
Fishing and Freshwater Fishing ; I]. Economic Condition 
of Fishermen; III. Commercial and Economic; IV. 
Fish Culture, which will include sections devoted to 
Scientific Investigation and Acclimatisation of Fish; V. 
Natural Histery under the following departments :— 
I. Specimens living (marine and fresh water), fresh, 
stuffed or preserved, casts, drawings and representations 
of—(a) Algee arranged according to their various species 
and localities ; (4) Sponges, in their natural state ; (c) 
Corals, in their natural state, polyps, jelly-fish, &c.; 
(d@) Entozoa; (e) Mollusca of all kinds and shells not 
included in class III.; (/) Starfishes, sea urchins, holo- 
thuriz ; (g) Worms used for bait, or noxious; leeches, 
&c.; (#) Perfect insects and larve of insects, which are 
destroyers of spawn or serve as food for fish; (z) Crus- 
tacea of all kinds; (£) Fish of all kinds; (7) Reptiles, 
such as tortoises, turtles, terrapins, lizards, serpents, 
frogs, newts, &c.; (7) Aquatic and other birds hostile to 
fish or fishing ; (7) Aquatic and amphibious mammalia 
(otters, seals, whales, &c.) and others detrimental to fish, 
2. Works on Ichthyology. Maps illustrating geographical 
distribution, migration, &c., of fishes and spawn, 3. 
Specimens and representations illustrative of the relations 
between extinct and existing fishes. VI. History and 
literature of fishing, fishing laws, fish commerce. VII. 
Loan collections. This certainly seems comprehensive 
enough. 
According to a preliminary notice Prizes of 1oo/. will be 
given for each of the following subjects, viz.:—1. The 
natural history of commercial fishes of Great Britain, 
with especial reference to such parts of their natural 
history as bear upon their production and commercial use. 
2. Relations of the state with fishermen and fisheries, 
including all matters dealing with their production, regu- 
lations, &c. 3. Cn the possible increase of the supply of 
fish, and on improved facilities for their economic trans- 
mission and distribution. 
All the speakers. at Willis’ss Rooms on Monday 
seemed duly impressed with the importance of the Exhibi- 
tion; and it was evident from their speeches that the 
Prince of Wales and Duke of Edinburgh take a genuine 
and intelligent interest in the matter. The statistical and 
economical sides of the proposed Exhibition were naturally 
more prominent before the meeting than the scientific, 
though the composition of the committee is a guarantee 
that the latter will have full attention. The Prince of 
Wales’s reference to Prof. Huxley, and the plan of exhibits 
given above, may be taken as significant that these will 
not be neglected. There is plenty of time to make all 
arrangements and find a proper /oca/e, and, probably 
enough, the committee may find it necessary to make 
some modifications in their arrangements. We are glad 
to see that the Prince of Wales is acquainted with the 
important work in fish-culture which is being done in the 
United States, which, we trust, will be fully represented 
at the Exhibition. 
It may be usefu! to our readers to know that the offices 
of the Exhibition are at 24, Haymarket. 
THE CHEMISTRY OF THE ATLANTIC! 
Ie 
N considering the effect of depth on the gaseous con- 
tents of sea water, Dr. Tornoe arranges his results in 
groups, giving the mean percentage of oxygen in different 
intervals of depth. From the consideration of this table 
‘he concludes that ‘‘the proportion of oxygen, which at 
the surface is 35°3 per cent., begins at once and continues 
to diminish, at first rapidly and afterwards at a slower 
rate, till it has reached 32°5 per cent. at the depth of 300 
fathoms, from whence it keeps almost constant. I will 
not omit, however, to observe that of the samples of 
water examined, forty had been drawn from the bottom ; 
it was, howeyer, impossible to detect any difference in 
composition between these and the samples obtained from 
equal intermediate depths.” 
The results of the analysis of the Challenger samples 
pointed to a very decided minimum of oxygen occurring 
about 300 fathoms from the surface. The observations 
on which this conclusion depended were the analyses of 
the gases from two samples of water from 300 fathoms in 
the region of equatorial calms inthe Atlantic. The temper- 
ature of the water was 7°0° C. and 6°8° C.,and the oxygen 
percentages 10°75 and 11'98. The nearest fart of the ocean 
where a surface temperature of 7° C. occurs at any time 
of the year is more than 2000 miles distant, so that the 
water in this position must necessarily have been shut out 
from a fresh supply of oxygen fora long time while con- 
tinually exposed to the reducing action of live and dead 
animal matter. In the Arctic waters explored by the 
Norwegian Expedition there must be a tolerably thorough 
equalisation of temperature from surface to bottom every 
winter, producing a renewal of the atmospheric contents 
of the water, consequently it is not surprising that the 
1 The Norwegian North Atlantic Expedition, 1876-73. Chemistry. By 
etoenles Tornoe. (Christiania: Groendal and Son, 1880.) Continued from 
p. 389. 
