34 



NATURE 



{_Nov. 8, 1883 



is at stake— becoming thus prepared to form a rational 

 estimate of the final issue. 



Of these treatises or " Handbooks" — also introductory 

 to the more important " Conference Papers " to be spoken 

 of hereafter — twelve have been already published, and it 

 is to be regretted that they were not ready upon the open- 

 ing day. Foremost among them is a powerful treatise on 

 "The British Fish Tiade," by His Excellency Spencer 

 Walpole, whose authority in these matters no one will 

 venture to doubt. Here at the outset, we encounter, in 

 the deplored absence of reliable statistics, one of the most 

 formidable difficulties of the whole question, and the 

 labour under which the author has collected those upon 

 which he so ably generalises, speaks for itself. It is 

 shown that the East Coaster, Manxman, and Cornish- 

 man are — for obvious reasons — gradually monopolising 

 the "take," and in the discussion upon and ultimate de- 

 nunciation of the ''brand" question, every thoughtful 

 reader will agree. That a legal reform is pending no one 

 will doubt, and such statements as those on p. 3 regarding 

 the registration of boats, and on pp. 17 and ig concerning 

 the regulation of lights, suffice to show how the follies of 

 this world can confound its administrative wisdom. This 

 admirable work is a masterly analysis of the "catch and 

 distribution," and should be read by all who would grasp 

 the question in hand. 



Dealing with the purely legal aspect, Mr. F. Pollock 

 produces an authoritative work on "The Fishery Laws." 

 The freshwater fisheries are seen to be, of necessity, more 

 protected by law than those of the sea, territorial waters 

 excepted ; and it is important to note the extent to which 

 conservators and other local authorities are empowered. 

 The present aspect of the question i^ ably summed up in 

 the author's "conclusion" to this a concise and well- 

 arranged work. 



The educational side of the matter has not been over- 

 looked. In the production of a valuable little work on 

 the zoology of food-fishes, Mr. G. B. Howes has suc- 

 cessfully solved the very difficult problem of so dilut- 

 ing a large store of special knowledge, as to present it 

 in a form well adapted to the assimilation of the class 

 of readers for which it was avowedly written ; and at the 

 same time has contrived to invest it with an earnestness 

 of tone and a dignity of conception which cannot fail to 

 be productive of good to the most casual student. We 

 cannot expect a composition of this kind to assume the 

 accurate character of a text-book, and hence a {e.\\ omis- 

 sions, w'hich more mature reflection would have remedied, 

 constitute faults which should readily be overlooked 

 Altogether the author may fairly be congratulated on 

 having scored a genuine success. Mr. \V. S. Kent 

 has done good service by bringing into one volume a 

 synopsis ot the distinctive characters oi every spccifs oi 

 British fish. His work, welcome for this reason alone, 

 also embodies observations upon fishes in captivity, 

 made during his career as naturali-.t to various existing 

 aquaria. Many of them are interesting, but those upon 

 the feeding of fishes must not be taken as necessarily 

 indicative of their natural habits. The strange, guarded 

 mode of progression of the Boar-fish, John Dory,and others 

 described, can also be seen in the Pike in his native run. 

 Much of the controversial matter in this book, befitting a 

 conference paper, would, so treated, have entailed a de- 

 sirable curtailing of this, a popular work of reference. 



Man's all-prevailing imagination is wisely checked in 

 " Sea Monsters Unmasked," in which Mr. H. Lee collects 

 the scattered literature of this subject, and puts in a 

 strong plea for the "cuttle theory,'' of which he is a 

 well-known champion. An able defence of Pontoppidan 

 is maintained, and one novel record set forth in this work 

 is the dissipation of superstition — the kraken of our child- 

 hood — by a bishop — a Norwegian however, and in the 

 eighteenth century. The two last-named manuals are 

 illustrated, and all concerned merit congratulation upon 



the production of such exairples of xylographic art as 

 cover pp. 18 and 21 of the latter work. 



The four following volumes are devoted to the more 

 practical side of the industry. Mr. E. VV. Holdsworth 

 gives an exceedingly clear and systematic account of 

 " The Apparatus for Fishing," and by the use of well- 

 chosen similes succeeds in making plain his descriptions 

 of the most intricate apparatus. The advances dependent 

 upon the introduction of the " ketch-rigged '' boats must, 

 as here set forth, impress the reader with the need and 

 value of improved apparatus. From the manner in which 

 the various topics are treated by so competent an author, 

 the reader can fonn some definite notion of the real prac- 

 tical difficulties which our fishermen encounter. These 

 and other like matters are also fully dealt with in the two 

 following works, by Messrs. J. G. Bertram and \V. M. 

 Adams respectively. The former is a plea for "The Un- 

 appreciated Fisherfolk," and the lalter deals with the 

 " Fisheries and P'ishermen of all Countries." Much fresh 

 testimony to the antiquity of the industry and the remark- 

 able community of its followers — wherever they are found 

 — is brought forward in these two volumes. Their hard- 

 worked lives are shown, as generally acknowledged, to 

 bring in but a scanty remuneration, accompanied by 

 ceaseless anxiety and danger : how far the former is not 

 at times due to their inherited conservatism — especially 

 as regards the bait question — remains uncertain. The 

 moral attributes of their lives, often untainted by "civil- 

 isation," are fully attested, and anyone who has witnessed 

 the operations incident upon, say, a Scotch herring take, 

 will know that reform in this respect is more needed 

 among the "gutters " and others accessory to the work 

 than among the fishermen proper. The evidence adduced 

 here and elsewhere points to a need of inrmediate reform 

 in the apprenticeship question, much that is bad in it 

 being due to existing regulations. The sketch given of 

 the decay of the Irish fisheries is to be deplored, but ot 

 their restoration a hope still lingers. It is certain that 

 if our fisherfolk "know- nothing whatever about fish, 

 except the way to catch them," they know this at least 

 j thoroughly. Mr. Adams claims for Oppian the dignity 

 of an ichthyologist, and gives .'Elian perhaps more than 

 his due on p. 16 of his book. An incident, bearing upon 

 the foundation of "Holland's Maritime Ascendancy" 

 (p. 37), w-ill not fail to interest our readers at the present 

 time, and we note that neither Mr. .-Xdams' researches nor 

 those of any one else, have yet satisfactorily cleared up the 

 origin of trawling. 



It is not reassuring to compare the state of affairs in 

 India, as detailed in Ur. Day's Manual, according to 

 which, inatters in that land stand as much in need of reform 

 as at home. The author attributes the existing deplorable 

 condition of the Indian fishermen largely to misrule, but 

 more especially to the weight of the salt-tax imposed by 

 the British ; indeed, this topic is the refrain of the whole 

 book, and the author's own investigations go far to sup- 

 port the belief As might be expected, there are some 

 curious customs and forms of apparatus described, in use 

 among men so interesting as these from an ethnological 

 point of view. Some speculations on p. 37 as to the 

 behaviour of ova in mud are at least suggestive as our 

 knowledge stands, and it is sincerely to be regretted that 

 we have no British representative of the air-breathing 

 Ophiocephalid;!;- described on p. 31, for if so, we venture 

 to say that reform in the matter of our freshwater-fish- 

 eries'would be less slow. Dr. Day also furnishes a work 

 on " Fish Culture,'' in -.vhich he gives a historical review 

 of the different aspects of this subject, not altogether 

 favourable to our own possessions. Bewailing the need 

 of Governmental action, and deploring the lack of statis- 

 tical evidence upon which to generalise, the writer has 

 either collected or furnished a mass of information which 

 will both enlighten the public and prove of service to the 

 practical man. The style of this book is somewhat heavy. 



