November ii, 1909 



NA TURE 



41 



gress, and a general report on the work of the past 

 year up to March 31. 



The whole matter is another triumph of German 

 organisation. Throughout the committees, which are 

 interacting, are zoologists, ornithologists, botanists, 

 geologists, and archffiologists. The useful term 

 " natural monument " — Alexander von Humboldt 

 seems first to have employed it — includes practically 

 everything indigenous which possesses scientific 

 interest. In this report, for instance, which is well 

 illustrated, there are accounts, not only of the Porta 

 Westfalica, a human monument, but of interesting 

 trees, " erratic "' blocks of stone, moraines, diluvial 

 sandstone formations, many characteristic specimens 

 of the flora and fauna of the country, including 

 various subdivisii;n.s, such as lichens and Lepido- 

 ptera. The term and the whole conception of the 

 scheme are absolutely comprehensive. Many charts 

 have already been prepared showing the local distri- 

 bution of the "monuments"; such publications are 

 of the highest scientific interest, especially when their 

 subjects may still be counted on by the observer as 

 existing in actuality. 



It is to be hoped that this report mav find its way 

 to the hands of some English statesman. It gives 

 an object-lesson of what can be done, and of how it 

 may be done, to preserve the natural character of a 

 countn,-. In England the enclosure of sites and pre- 

 servation of scenery too often result in the destruc- 

 tion of both fauna and flora. Where are the denizens, 

 vegetable and animal, of White's Selborne? The 

 present writer for many years had the privilege of 

 research in a certain wild corner of Wensleydale 

 which was as rich in rare plants and birds as any 

 district in Great Britain. The ownership changed 

 hands, and the whole of the wild life of the place 

 was destroyed, first, by drainage for the purpose of 

 making a coursing-ground, and later by operations 

 connected with the water-supplv of a great manu- 

 facturing town. This was vandalism no less brutal 

 than the destruction of an exquisite statue. 



It would be a profound satisfaction to lovers of 

 nature if our countrv could be preserved in an efiicient 

 and comprehensive wav. It is a work that could well 

 be initiated by the Board of .Agriculture. Dr. Con- 

 wentz, bv the publication last year in English of his 

 book " The Care of Natural Monuments, with Special 

 Reference to Great Britain and Germany," has already 

 £riven us a guide to both principle and execution. 

 The present report — which can be read at one sitting — 

 justifies his guidance. A. E. Crawley. 



THE MIGRATIOXS OF PLAICE.' 

 'T'HE marking of plaice was commenced on the 

 •^ east coast of Ireland in .August, iqo5, and in a 

 recent report Mr. G. P. Farran deals with such re- 

 captures as have been made up to the end of 1907. 



The principal plaice grounds on the coast of Ireland 

 considered are within the areas prohibited to steam 

 trawling, and the recaptures have been chiefly made 

 by the local sailing trawlers and by line fishermen. In 

 these circumstances it seems possible that here, as 

 in other "prohibited" areas, some cases of recapture 

 by steam trawlers may, for obvious reasons, be sup- 

 pressed by the fishermen concerned. 



Omitting certain fish liberated under unfavourable 

 conditions, the total proportion of recaptured marked 

 plaice stands at 46 per cent., from which Mr. Farran 

 concludes that the local fishermen remove no incon- 

 siderable portion of the stock of plaice on their fishing 



1 Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction for Ireland, 

 Fisheries Branch. Scientific Investigations, 1907, No. iii. 



" Plaice Markincc Experiments on the East Coast of Ireland in 1905 and 

 1906." By G. P. Farran. Pp. 86+xx.xiii plates. (Dublin, 1909.) 



NO. 2089, VOL. 8.?] 



grounds. .As an instance of how heavily a small area 

 can be fished may be noted an experiment made in 

 Skerries Bay. One hundred and eighty plaice were 

 marked in .April, 1906, out of which number no fewer 

 than one hundred and nineteen, or 66 per cent., had 

 been reported before the end of 1907. 



In contrast to the long migrations which have been 

 observed in the North Sea and at Iceland, very little 

 tendency to extensive wanderings is shown by the 

 plaice in these experiments. The majority were re- 

 taken within ten miles of the position of liberation. It 

 is interesting to note that an inshore movement in the 

 Dublin Bay area was evident in the autumn. A 

 similar tendencv has been noticed at this time of the 

 year in some other parts of the British Isles, and is 

 a well-known feature of the small plaice grounds off 

 the Danish coast. 



The choice of a suitable label for these experiments 

 seems to have presented some difficulty. The German 

 pattern of Dr. Heincke was found satisfactory for 

 the size of fish most frequently met with, but unsatis- 

 factory experiments were made with one or two other 

 kinds. It seems curious that no attempt was made 

 with the Petersen form of label, which has been suc- 

 cessfully employed in the Danish, English, and other 

 investigations, and, in Dr. Schmidt's classic experi- 

 ments at Iceland, continued to be returned with the 

 fish more than three years after their liberation. 



Mr. Farran 's mode of tabulating his data has cer- 

 tain disadvantages. The usual method adopted in re- 

 cording recaptures is to take them in chronological 

 order. Had this plan been followed instead of taking 

 the consecutive numbers of the labels (an arrange- 

 ment which seems to have little to recommend it), 

 reference and comparison with the experiments of 

 other investigators would have been facilitated. 



NOTES. 



Political, iriunicipal, industrial, and philanthropic activi- 

 ties are liberally represented in the list of Birthday Honours 

 published on Tuesday, but science and other intellectual 

 interests receive scant recognition. There are six new 

 privy councillors, six new baronets, and thirty-two new 

 knights in the list. .Among the privy councillors is Sir 

 Henry Roscoe, F.R.S., and among those who have received 

 the honour of knighthood are Prof. \V. A. Tilden, F.R.S., 

 and Mr. E. H. Shackleton, the leader of the recent 

 -Antarctic expedition. Prof. .A. H. Church, F.R.S., has 

 been appointed a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian 

 Order (K.C.V.O.). Mr. T. L. Heath has been promoted 

 to be Knight Commander of the Bath (K.C.B.), and Dr. 

 Sven Hedin has been appointed an honorary Knight Com- 

 mander of the Indian Empire (K.C.I.E.). 



The following is a list of fellows who have been recom- 

 mended by the president and council of the Royal Society 

 for election into the council for the ensuing year ; — Presi- 

 dent, Sir Arcliibald Geikie, K.C.B. ; treasurer, Mr. Alfred 

 Bray Kempc ; secretaries. Sir Joseph Larmor, Prof. J. R. 

 Bradford ; foreign secretary. Sir William Crookes ; other 

 ynembers of the council. Dr. H. B. Baker, Dr. W. H. 

 Gaskell, Prof. E. H. Griffiths, Prof. Horace Lamb, Prof. 

 H. M. Macdonald, Major P. A. MacMahon, Dr. C. J. 

 Martin, Sir Andrew Noble, Bart., K.C.B., Prof. W. H. 

 Perkin. Prof. E. B. Poulton, Prof. J. H. Poynting, Lieut. - 

 Colonel David Prain, CLE., Prof. R. .A. Sampson, Dr. 

 .A. E. Shipley, the Right Hon. Sir James Stirling, Dr. A. 

 Strahan.' 



We regret to see the announcement of the death of Dr. 

 W. H. Dallinger, F.R.S., on Sunday, November 7, at 

 sixty-seven years of age. 



