Nov. 8, 1883] 



NATURE 



35 



and might be improved by a little judicious thinning. 

 Both Dr. Day's books are illustrated — in the case of the 

 former somewhat unintelligibly. No one interested in 

 fishing will regret the failure of an attempt (made, we be- 

 lieve, by the late F. Buckland) to acclimatise the Sheat- 

 fish (Silurus). 



Mr. C. E. Fryer, in his work on " Salmon Fisheries," 

 throws some doubts upon the necessity of elaborate arti- 

 ficial breeding, in a weighty argument, having for its key- 

 stone the restoration of our waters by the removal of 

 pollution. The intricacies of the vexed question in hand 

 are admirably put before the reader, and the author shows 

 that, in some cases, existing obstacles could be removed, 

 or that at least considerate action could, if exercised at 

 the right time, beneficially modify the present state of 

 affairs. In a comparison of the "pass" and "dam" 

 systems, the success of Cooper's pass, on the Ballisodare 

 River, Ireland, is adduced as a strong argument for the 

 salmon-ladder. The reported death, after spawning, of 

 the kelts of British Columbia opens up a new field for 

 inquiry ; and those interested in animal intelligence, so 

 much discussed in these pages, will find here some inter- 

 esting additional testimony to the capacity of the salmon. 

 The author's description of the dawn of life on pp. 13 

 and 14 might be advantigeously improved. 



The only remaining volume, one by Mr. J. P. Wheel- 

 don, treats of " .AngHng Clubs and Preservation Socie- 

 ties" ; and in tracing the growth of many of these it is 

 shown that they have done good work, as, for example, 

 the abolition of " snatching" and "'night-lining.'' The 

 opening remarks, ho. i ever, are not favourable to the 

 majority of those in London, whose members unfortu- 

 nately constitute more than ninety per cent, of our 

 Thames angling-community. In tracing the changes 

 wrought in our local waters, the village poacher of old is 

 compared with the modern steam launch as a destroyer, 

 and one more protest against the latter is lodged by the 

 writer, a champion in the cause. It is important to note 

 that the best regulated waters are those in which the 

 management is vested in the hands of resident local 

 bodies. 



Such are these '■ Handbooks," the main portion of a 

 series which will doubtless form a complete, but none too 

 hopeful, epitome of the subject-matter. We now turn to 

 the " Conference Papers." 



The meetings at which these were read and discussed 

 were all thrown open to the public, and, what is of 

 greater importance, there were to be found present influ- 

 entials of all grades and nationalities from royalty down 

 to the verj- fishermen and dealers whose immediate in- 

 terests were under discussion. The chair was invariably 

 occupied by some one of authority — in one case by a 

 sole living " Minister of Fisheries.'' 



Of the masterly inaugural address delivered by Prof. 

 Hu.xle)-, and of the paper by H.R.H. the Duke of Edin- 

 burgh, which formed the subject of the first sitting, the 

 public have already been fully informed, and no one who 

 was present at cither of those meetings could fail to observe 

 that the surroundings augured at least an active future. 

 Concerning the address, suffice it to say that the truth of 

 the only statement upon which dissension has been raised 

 — by a carping minority who have entirely misunderstood 

 the real meaning implied — has been more fully verified 

 at each subsequent sitting (we refer to the inexhaustibility 

 of the herring-fisheries). The very fact that in the latter 

 admirable paper an attempt has iDeen made to estimate 

 /c';- ///t'yf.i-j-/ //wt- our national take offish — 615,000 tons 

 per annum — to say nothing of other statistics, gathered 

 with immense labour, is in itself sufficient to justify im- 

 mediate action, striking as it does at the very root of 

 the evil at present existing — at the same time forming a 

 good starting point for future investigation. 



Beyond the formal passing of a vote of thanks, these 

 were both dismissed without discussion, that upon the 



latter being adjourned sine die ; but the subject-matters of 

 the twenty-six papers which follow on were all freely dis- 

 cussed, both the length of the paper itself and of each 

 speaker's remarks being under control, such as favoured 

 a thorough sifting and all-round investigation of the topic 

 under consideration— the object being to get at facts 

 rather than to frame schemes. The Exhibition itself 

 shows the far-reaching interests of the fishing industry, 

 but in the account which follows we have attempted to 

 roughly classify the work done in conference. 



The gravity of the important question of " supply " will 

 be seriously increased should the ingenious argument 

 advanced by Sir H. Thompson on pp. 14 and 15 of his 

 " Fish as Food " be substantiated. This paper is of 

 great value, embodying as it does the most recent ana- 

 lyses in the question, of which it must be admitted that 

 very little is known, and dissipating certain cherished 

 but fallacious notions, in matters dietetic. Deploring our 

 national indifference to these, the author formulates them 

 for all conditions ofmen, on the supposition that fish shall 

 be eaten, giving some valuable hints for practical treat- 

 ment. It is well known that the West Highlander would 

 probably rather starve than eat the eel which abounds in 

 his waters, and which, the experienced author of this 

 paper shows, supplies the very requisites of which he 

 most stands in need. 



Of first importance among a series of papers dealing 

 with our home sea-fisheries is that on " The Herring Fish- 

 eries of Scotland," by Mr. Duff, M.P. Certain aspects of 

 this question have been before the public for some time 

 past, but the conclusions drawn by the writer all point to 

 the introduction of improved apparatus and harbour 

 accommodation, and to the repeal of any restrictive 

 legislation which may exist in this — a matter in which the 

 current official report shows that we do not know suffi- 

 cient of the habits of the fish themselves to even account 

 for their movements, still less to legislate upon their 

 capture. This paper will be of great value to the prac- 

 tical fisherman, and furnishes a good survey of all sides 

 of the industry. No greater argument for improved 

 tackle can be adduced than that of the change wrought 

 in our herring-fisheries by the substitution of cotton for 

 hemp netting. The closely allied " Mackerel and Pil- 

 chard Fisheries" form the subject of a thoroughly prac- 

 tical paper by Mr. T. Cornish, himself a worker. In the 

 absence of statistics to prove otherwise, reform points in 

 the same direction as for the herring-fishenes. Fuller 

 information on the question and probable cause of the 

 fluctuations in the "boat-side'" price of mackerel (p. 10) 

 would be acceptable. Although the habits of the pilchard 

 baffle us, the author shows that where these fishes do 

 occur they are most productive, and giving some interest- 

 ing statistics concerning them, he advocates the esta- 

 blishment of a cheap market for their sale. In the dis- 

 cussion which follows. Prof. Brown Goode gives a short 

 but interesting account of the American mackerel-fish- 

 eries. Two short papers on "Trawling" and "Line 

 Fishing," respectively by Messrs. A. W. Ansell and C. 

 M. Mundahl, embrace all the information upon our sea- 

 fisheries other than that given above. Our readers are 

 doubtless aware that a Commission is now inquiring into 

 the disputes between the advocates of these two great 

 systems, and much of the matter contained in these 

 papers is naturally devoted to them. .An amount of useful 

 statistical information is collected, and certain subsidiary 

 questions are discussed in their bearing upon the industry, 

 notably those connected with transport. The old belief 

 that tlie beam-trawl displaced and destroyed the ova of 

 our deep-sea fishes has been but recently shattered by 

 Sars, but Mr. Ansell adduces evidence to show that the 

 question of shore-trawling demands investigation. There 

 can be no reasonable doubt but that trawling will be the 

 fishing of the future ; it gives constant employment for 

 the whole year, all objections raised against it are dissi- 



