THE ELECTRIC ORGANS OF FISIIES. 61 
first day of January one thousand eight hundred and ninety- 
two, knowingly or with intent kill, wound, or take any Sand 
Grouse, or shall expose or offer for sale any Sand Grouse killed 
or taken in the United Kingdom, shall, on conviction of any 
such offence before any justice or justices of the peace in 
England and Ireland, or before the sheriff or any justice or 
justices of the peace in Scotland, forfeit and pay for every such 
bird so killed, wounded, or taken, or exposed or offered for sale, 
such sum of money not exceeding one pound as to the said 
justice or justices shall seem meet, together with the costs of 
conviction. 
“9. This Act may be cited as the Sand-Grouse Protection 
Act, 1888.” 
On comparing the text of this Act with that of the Bill as 
originally introduced,* it appears that the intention of its 
‘promoters was, very properly, to give effect to the Act the 
moment it was passed, and the close time originally proposed 
was “‘ between the time of the passing of this Act and the first 
day of January, 1892.” ‘This was altered (as we think, very 
unwisely) to the wording above given, the result being, as might 
have been expected, that many Sand Grouse have been killed 
since the Act was passed, apparently because unscrupulous 
persons have been anxious to procure specimens before it should 
become illegal to do so. If there was to be any legislation at all 
on the subject, the pity is it did not come sooner. It is hardly 
to be expected that any good will now result from it. 
THE ELECTRIC ORGANS OF FISHES. 
Unver the auspices of the “Glasgow Natural History 
Society,” at the Inaugural Meeting of the present session, 
Professor Cossar Ewart gave an interesting lecture on this 
subject. He said there were few, if any structures in the whole, 
realm of nature which, in addition to perplexing and puzzling 
the naturalist, had attracted more general attention than the 
* The Bill was prepared and brought in by Mr. Sydney Buxton, Sir 
George Trevelyan, Lord Charles Beresford, Sir John Lubbock, Mr. G. 
Osborne Morgan, Sir Henry James, Mr. Richard Power, Sir Edward 
Birkbeck, and Mr. Broadhurst. 
