Atig. 29, 1872] 



NATURE 



363 



Pohm vfith respect to the cession of a suitable site for tlie 

 building." , 



Kt-f-iVt of the "Close Time'' CommiZ/ir. 



The Committee re-appointed at Edinburgh, for the purpose of 

 continuing the investigation on the desirability of establishing 

 a " Close Time," for the preservation of indigenous animals, re- 

 port as follows : — 



Believing the time had come for advantageously urging the 

 Legislature to take further action Avhereby the object for which 

 your Committee was appointed might be promoted, your Com- 

 mittee, after due consideration, prepared a bill, intituled an Act 

 for the Protection of Wild Fowl, which being entrusted to the 

 care of Mr. Andrew Johnston, M.P., was by him, Colonel Tom- 

 line, M.P., and Mr. Brown, M.P., brought into the House of 

 Commons on February 15, and read a first time. 



This bill was based on the "Sea-Birds Preservation Act of 

 1869," and mutatis mutandis orAy, strictly followed the provi- 

 sions of this Act, which experience has shown to have fully 

 effected the object for whicli it was passed, and to have given 

 very general satisfaction to the country at large. 



On tlie motion for the second reading of the bill in the House 

 of Commons, June 12, the Hon. Auberon Herbert, M.P., pro- 

 posed as an amendment that it was " desirable to provide for the 

 protection of all wild birds during the breeding season ; " but 

 this amendment, which would have been fatal to the bill, was 

 withdrawn, tlie bill was read a second time and ordered to be 

 committed, June 2r. 



In the debate in the House of Commons on the notice for 

 going into Committee, Mr. Herbert moved, according to notice, 

 "That it be an instruction to the Committee that they have 

 power to extend the protection, given under the bill to Wild 

 fowl during the breeding season, to other wild birds." The 

 House divided : Ayes 20, Noes 15 ; and thereupon Mr. Herbert 

 moved a number of other amendments of which he had gi\en 

 notice, and these being accepted by the House, the bill, instead 

 of being the moderate measure contemplated by your Committee, 

 became one of general and indefinite scope. 



By this means the fate of the bill, which had hitherto met with 

 no serious opposition, was rendered very uncertain ; and notice 

 was given of a motion to throw it out ; but on the report being 

 taken, the bill on Mr. Johnston's proposal, was relerred to a 

 Select Committee, by whom it was still further modified ; the 

 objections urged against its sweeping clauses being overcome by 

 limiting its effects to certain kinds of birds named in a Schedule, 

 whUe the penalties for its infringement were diminished. In 

 this form it went back to the House of Commons, and with a 

 few other alterations finally passed that House, and was sent to 

 the House of Lords. 



In the Upper House, charge of the bill was taken by the Earl 

 of Malmesbury, and, some fault being found with it, its provi- 

 sions were further altered in committee, a person convicted of a 

 first offence being rendered liable to a reprimand and the pay- 

 ment of costs and summons only. Thus modified it was returned 

 to the House of Commons, and has since received Eler 

 Majesty's assent. 



Vour Committee cannot look with unmixed favour on this 

 measure. It appears to them to attempt to do too much, and 

 not to provide effectual means of doing it. In their former Re- 

 ports they have hinted at, if not expressed, the difficulty or 

 mpossibility of passing any general measure, which without being 

 oppressive to any class of persons, should be adequate to the 

 puqjose. Further consideration has strengthened their opinion 

 on this point. They fear the New Act, though far from a 

 general measure, will be a very inefficient check to the destruc- 

 tion of those birds, which, from their yearly decreasing numbers, 

 most require protection, its restraining power having been weak- 

 ened for the sake of protecting a number of birds ^\■hich do not 

 require protection at all. Your Committee have never succeeded 

 in obtaining any satisfactory evidence, much less any convincing 

 proof, that the numbers of small birds are generally decreasing in 

 this country. On the contrary they believe that from various 

 causes, many if not most species of small birds are actually on the 

 increase. They are therefore of opinion that an Act of Parlia- 

 ment proposing to promote their preservation is a piece of mis- 

 taken legislation, and is mischievous in its effect, since it diverts 

 public attention from those species which through neglect, in- 

 difference, custom, cupidity, or prejudice, are suffering a 

 persecution that will in a few years ensure their complete exter- 

 mination. At the same time your Committee are glad to state 

 that such 'protection as is afforded by the new Act will be ex- 



tended to the particular group of birds which in former Reports 

 they have shown to require it most — all the wild fowl named in 

 the bill prepared by your Committee, having being included in 

 the schedule of the Act. It is also gratifying to your Commitiec 

 to find that the principle of a " Close Time " for all birds has 

 been admitted by the House of Commons, though the application 

 of that principle may at present be inexpedient. Vour Com- 

 mittee therefore trust that the Act will not be otherwise than 

 beneficial in its results, and though greatly indebted to many 

 noblemen and gentlemen for the assistance they have rendered, 

 your Committee cannot refrain from especially thanking Mr. 

 Andrew Johnston, for the skill and patience he has shown in the 

 conduct of the bill introduced. 



Your Committee respectfully suggest that they may be re- 

 appointed. 



Fourth Report on the Fauna of South Devon, by C. Spence 

 Bate. 



Attention had been principally directed to the development 

 and habits of animals which had fallen under observation. This 

 had been facilitated by the establishment at Plymouth of a marine 

 pond as store for the Crystal Palace Aquarium. The observa- 

 tions had already proved interesting, and would become more so 

 as the conditions of the pond became better adapted to Deep Sea 

 species. It is formed out of a deep gulley in the limestone, paitly 

 extending back into a cave. At the entrance it is 11 ft. wide, 

 and in other parts more than double ; when the water is highest, 

 its length is upwards of eighty feet. With the replacement of 

 the original Fueus by green alga^, the water has become pellucid 

 and clear. A list was given nf the fish taken on the coast since 

 the last report. Most of these have done well in the pond, the 

 exceptions being fish of erratic habits, such as the mackerel. 

 These, after restlessly roaming in search of an outlet, succumbed 

 and died. Other fish thrive apparently unconscious of their con- 

 finement. The Blue Wrasse (La/irus mi.xtus) had exhibited 

 marked sexu.il selection, a fact which had also been observed by 

 Mr. Lloyd at Hamburgh. During the breeding time the male se- 

 lects one out of many females, and afterwards regularly accom- 

 panies her. It had also been ascertained that the Blue Wrasse 

 and the Spotted Wrasse were the same species. The male in 

 confinement at Plymouth appears to be losing his fine coloura- 

 tion and approximating to that of the female ; it seems, there- 

 fore, probable that the blue colour is more or less assumed at 

 the breeding season. 



With regard to the Crustacea, there are two subjects of inte- 

 rest. The first is the perceptible decrease in the numbers of the 

 edible species, the decrease being more perceptible in the littoral 

 than in the deep sea species. "This arises from the custom of 

 destroying the females as well as the males at all seasons of the 

 year, and also from the preference given to the lobster for 

 culinary purposes when laden with spawn. In the case of the 

 crab {CajieerJ'agitrus) there is not even this excuse. The market- 

 able value of the female is at least one fifth that of the male. 

 This arises from the smaller size, especially of the claws. Cap- 

 tured in greater numbers, they are wantonly destroyed, being 

 hawked about the streets for a few pence. The capture of the 

 lobster, he thought, should be interdicted from February until 

 May, and that of the female crab altogether. To the assertion 

 that the lobster and crab are so prolific as to render the destruc- 

 tion unimportant, there was the obvious reply, that in all those 

 forms of life where the oVa are most abundant, the development 

 of the individuals is least quantitatively. In the case of the 

 lobster, no one has ever seen that stage in its life which unites the 

 animal as we know it with that which we have seen when it 

 quits the egg, and, except the common littoral crab (Careiuus 

 nnenas), this is true of all the higher Crustacea. Mr. Lloyd, of 

 Hamburgh, has noticed that the male or soldier crab {Pa^urus) 

 in the spring takes hold of the shell containing the female, and 

 carries it about for weeks together, and does not intercept its 

 food as it would if a male were contained inside. He had found 

 that Crustacea might be preserved in a very superior way by 

 keeping them in glycerine, and then drying them. .Specimens 

 preserved in this way two or three years ago were as flexible as 

 if fresh. The soft parts should, if possible, be removed. He 

 hoped to preserve fish in the same way. (Mr. Spence Bate sub- 

 sequently remarked that after five or six years the structure of 

 specimens preserved in glycerine appeared to become rotten. He 

 suggesteil, therefore, the previous admixture with the glycerine 

 of one-eighth of spirit of wine. ) 



Among the molluscs many species of Aledone had been cap- 

 tured. This was generally supposed to be a rare species, but 



