September 19, 191 2] 



NATURE 



75 



Engineering. 

 Sir W. H. Preece, gaseous 

 explosions ... ... ... So o o 



Anthropology. 



Dr. R. Munro, Glastonbury 



Lake Village ... ... 500 



C H. Read, age of stone 



circles... ... ... ... 2 2 2 



Dr. R. Munro, artificial 



islands in Highland lochs 500 



Prof. G. Elliot Smith, physical 

 character of ancient 



Egyptians ... ... ... 34 16 6 



Prof. A. Thomson, anthropo- 

 metric investigations in 

 British Isles ... ... ... 500 



Prof. W. Ridgeway, Roman 



sites in Britain ... ... 15 o o 



Prof. W. Ridgeway, excava- 

 tions in Macedonia ... ... 30 o o 



E. S. Hartland, Hausa manu- 

 scripts ... 20 o o 



Physiology. 



Prof. E. A. Schafer, the duct- 

 less glands ... ... ... 40 o o 



Prof. S. J. Hickson, table at 

 the Zoological Station at 

 Naples ... ... ... 20 o o 



Prof. J. S. Macdonald, calori- 

 metric observations... ... 45 o o 



Prof. Starling, oxy-hsemo- 

 globin ... ... ... 15 o o 



Prof. F. Gotch, mammalian 

 heart ... ... ... ... 20 o o 



Education. 

 Prof. J. J. Findlay, mental 



and physical factors ... 20 o o 



Dr. G. A. Auden, influence of 



school books on eyesight ... 15 o o 

 Sir H. Miers, scholarships, 



&c., held by University 



students 500 



;^8o o o 



;^Il6 18 S 



Botany. 

 Dr. D. H. Scott, structure of 



fossil plants ... 15 o o 



Prof. A. C. Seward, Jurassic 



flora of Yorkshire ... ... 15 o o 



Prof. F. Keeble, flora of peat 



of Kennet Valley ... ... 15 o o 



A. G. Tansley, vegetation of 



Ditcham Park ... ... 45 o o 



;^I40 o o 



;^90 o o 



£40 o o 



Corresponding Societies Committee. 

 W. Whitaker, for preparation 



of report 25 o o 



;^25 o o 



Total ^1036 18 8 



SECTION D. 



ZOOLOGY. 



Opening Address by P. Chalmers Mitchell, D.Sc, 



F.R.S., President of the Section. 

 Zoological Gardens and the Preservation of Fauna. 



In thinking over possible subjects for this Presi- 

 dential Address, I was strongly tempted to enter on a 

 discussion of the logical methods and concepts that we 

 employ in zoology. The temptation was specially 

 NO. 2238, VOL. 90] 



strong to a Scot, speaking in Scotland, that he should 

 devote the hour when the prestige of the presidential 

 chair secured him attention, to putting his audience 

 right on logic and metaphysics. But I reflected that 

 zoology is doing very well, however its logic be waver- 

 ing, and that as all lines subtend an equal angle at 

 infinity, it would be of small moment if I were to 

 postpone my remarks on metaphysics. And so I am 

 to essay a more modest but a more urgent theme, and 

 ask you to consider the danger that threatens the 

 surviving land-fauna of this globe. A well-known 

 example may serve to remind you how swift is the 

 course of destruction. In 1867, when the British Asso- 

 ciation last met at Dundee, there were still millions 

 of bison roaming over the prairies and forests of 

 North America. In that year the building of the 

 Union Pacific, the first great trans-continental rail- 

 way, cut the herd in two. The southern division, 

 consisting itself of several million individuals, was 

 wiped out between 187 1 and 1874, and the practical 

 destruction of the northern herd was completed 

 between 1880 and 1884. .\t present there are only 

 two herds of wild bison in existence. In the Yellow- 

 stone Park only about twenty individuals remained in 

 191 1, the greater part of the herd having been killed by 

 poachers. A larger number, more than three hundred, 

 still survive near the Great Slave Lake, and there are 

 probably nearly two thousand in captivity, in various 

 zoological gardens, private domains and State parks. 

 It is only by the deliberate and conscious interference 

 of man that the evil wrought by man has been 

 arrested. 



A second example that I may select is also taken 

 from the continent of North America, but it is specially 

 notable because it is sometimes urged, as in India, 

 that migratory birds require no protection. Audubon 

 relates that just a century ago passenger pigeons 

 existed in countless millions, and that for four days 

 at a time the sky was black with the stream of 

 migration. The final extinction of this species has 

 taken place since the last meeting of the Association 

 in Dundee. In 1906 there were actually five single 

 birds living, all of which had been bred in captivity, 

 and I understand that these last survivors of a prolific 

 species are now dead, although the birds ranged in 

 countless numbers over a great continent. 



It would be futile to discuss in detail the precise 

 agencies by which the destruction of animal life is 

 wrought, or the pretexts or excuses for them. The 

 most potent factors are the perfection of the modern 

 firearm and the enormous increase in its use by 

 civilised and barbarous man. Sometimes the pretext 

 is sport, sometimes wanton destructiveness rules. The 

 extermination of beasts of prey, the clearing of soil 

 for stock or crops, the securing of meat, the commer- 

 cial pursuit of hides and horns and of furs and 

 feathers, all play their part. Farmers and settlers 

 on the outskirts of civilisation accuse the natives, and 

 allege that the problem would be solved were no fire- 

 arms allowed to any but themselves. Sportsmen 

 accuse other sportsmen, whom they declare to be no 

 real sportsmen, and every person whose object is not 

 sport. The great museums, in the name of science, 

 and the rich amateur collectors press forward to 

 secure the last specimens of moribund species. 



But even apart from such deliberate and conscious 

 agencies, the near presence of man is inhospitable to 

 wild life. As he spreads over the earth, animals 

 wither before him, driven from their haunts, deprived 

 of their food, perishing from new diseases. It is part 

 of a general biological process. From time to time, in 

 the past historv of the world, a species, favoured by 

 some haonv kink of structure or fortunate accident 

 of adaptabilitv, has become dominant. It has in- 

 creased greatly in numbers, outrunning its natal 



