May 27, 1915| 
NATURE 
357 

of two superintendents of fisheries. One of these 
latter officials graduated at Calcutta University as 
M.A. in light and acoustics, and afterwards carried 
on physical research, and the other was a student 
-at the same University, but ‘‘failed to take his 
B.A. degree.’’ The Department is allowed the use of 
a laboratory at the Indian Museum, and has also a 
laboratory on board a steam launch. Thus staffed 
and equipped it is proceeding with the investigation 
of Bengal fisheries! 
The latter are fresh-water, estuarine, and marine. 
The edible fresh-water fishes are mainly various species 
of carp, and a Clupeoid fish called the hilsa. The carps 
_breed in the rivers during the rains, and since exten- 
sive areas of Bengal are then flooded enormous num- 
bers of fry are lost in the paddy-fields. How to make 
good this loss by artificial culture, and also how to 
deal similarly with the hilsa are obvious problems, 
neither of which was solved by Dr. Jenkins or Mr. 
Southwell. The estuarine fisheries are located in the 
Sunderbans—that is, the rivers, swamps, and islands 
formed by the deltas of the Ganges and Brahmaputra. 
Here there are abundant edible fishes and crustacea, 
but no edible mollusca. The fishing grounds are far 
away from the traffic routes, and the fishing boats and 
gear are crude and inefficient. The fauna of the 
Sunderbans is not even adequately investigated. Dr. 
Jenkins spent thirty days there with an imperfectly 
equipped steam launch. Mr. Southwell tells us that 
Dr. Jenkins showed that ‘‘ the fish fauna varied greatly 
according to degree of salinity, depth of water, etc., 
and observed that nets suitable for fishing in one part 
of the estuaries might be unsuitable in other parts ’— 
results that might have been predicted! He also con- 
cluded that a “properly organised scheme of develop- 
ment of these fisheries would yield a profitable return 
on capital invested’’-—an equally indisputable con- 
clusion ! 
Much more is known about the prospects of a 
marine fishery. Colonel Alcock regarded the fishery 
of the Bay of Bengal as of very great potential value. 
There are numerous species of edible fishes, mostly 
Siluroids, Scienoids, Serranoids, Pleuronectids, and 
Ciupeoids. Dr. Jenkins and Dr. Annandale, of the 
Indian Museum, have made good reports on the collec- 
tions made by the former. The Golden Crown was 
an inefficient and poorly equipped steam trawler, and 
was, moreover, hampered in its worl by the Com- 
missioner of Fisheries, but Dr. Jenkins showed that 
it was possible to trawl in the Bay of Bengal through- 
out the whole year. The vessel caught, on the 
average, 26:6 cwt. of fish a day. (The average catch 
per day’s absence from port of an English steam 
trawler varies from about 60 cwt. to about 9 cwt., 
according to the fishing ground. The average catch 
per day for the North Sea, before the war, was about 
17 cwt.) If it were possible to eat, with pleasure, 
all the species of fish caught, the Golden Crown 
therefore had good results. Dr. Jenkins showed also 
that it was possible to send fish in good condition 
to the Calcutta markets, and that the difficulty of 
navigation of the Hooghly could be evaded. There 
was réason for believing that European fishery 
methods would succeed in the Bay of Bengal. 
But so far they have not been attempted, nor has the 
development of the fresh-water and estuarine fisheries 
been seriously attempted. One’s impression in read- 
ing the report is that of a Department which, having 
the conviction that something ought to be done, yet 
contents itself by doing it badly. Commercial ex- 
ploitation is, of course, a matter for private enter- 
prise, but it is ‘‘up to’? the Department which has 
modelled itself on European lines to see that scientific 
research is adequately promoted. jE 
NO. 2378, VOL. 95| 

VENTILATION AND HEALTH. 
NEW YORK State Commission on Ventilation 
has been established by the New York Associa- 
tion for Improving the Condition of the Poor, with 
the help of a grant from Mrs. E. M, Anderson. The 
Commission consists of the university professors re- 
spectively of physiology, chemistry, psychology, and 
clinical medicine, together with a ventilating engineer 
and an officer of the New York State Department of 
Health, all of whom give their time voluntarily. A 
Commission so constituted ought to produce results 
of great value. An experimental chamber has been 
put up and equipped with all necessary apparatus, 
and researches have been made into the conditions 
of schools, hospitals, business houses, etc. The Com- 
mission has now issued its first report. The 
report confirms the view that the physical, rather 
than the chemical, conditions of the air are of the 
greater importance. That temperature, humidity, 
and movement ot the air and its freedom from dust, 
bacteria, and odour are the first essentials of ventila- 
tion. 
Stagnant air at the same temperature as fresh air, 
even when it contains twenty or more parts of carbon 
dioxide, and all the organic and other substances in 
the breathed air of occupied rooms, has, so far, shown 
no effect on any of the physiological processes, except 
that the appetite for food may be slightly reduced. 
Here we have confirmation of the view recently 
expressed in these columns by Prof. Leonard Hill, 
that stagnant air by reducing the metabolism of the 
body impoverishes the health and vigour of the body. 
Over-heated rooms produce a slight but distinct eleva- 
tion of body temperature, increase the rate of the 
heart in the reclining posture, and its acceleration on 
rising from the reclining to the standing posture, and 
slightly lower the systolic blood pressure. The 
increased heart rate and diminished blood pres- 
sure found in the _ standing position show 
how the heated atmosphere relaxes the tone of the 
body, and tends to make the blood sink down into 
the dependent parts, and so produces sensations of 
fatigue, and reduces the inclination to work. The 
physiologist of the Commission, Prof. Fred S. Lee, 
determined after exposing cats to over-heated rooms 
that their excised muscles were more easily fatigued 
than those of the controls—14-26 per cent. Jess work 
was done. The sugar in their blood was also 
diminished. 
In a’ commercial establishment employing about 
4ooo clerks, it was found that the building was grossly 
overheated. The fault lay in large part with the dis- 
repair into which the thermostats had been allowed 
to fall. In certain ducts designed for fan ventilation 
no fans had been installed, while in others the fans 
were running at only a fraction of their efficient speed. 
In other ducts the register openings were so badly 
adjusted that while some rooms received more air 
than needed, others received less. 
In one hospital in New York notorious for its over- 
heating, records of 70°, 74°, and two 75° and above 
were obtained. In the children’s wards five out of 
eleven records were more than 70° F. In one hos- 
pital the children’s ward was 76° in the daytime. 
The Commissioner regards anything below 70° F. as 
free from over-heating ! 
Abominable conditions are proven then in certain 
institutions in New York, conditions which sap the 
health and vigour of the young, and turn them, so to 
speak, into wealx hothouse plants. General recogni- 
tion is required that the chief aim of ventilation is to 
provide a moving current of cool air, to remove 
the heat produced by human metabolism, and by the 
