54 



NA TURE 



[November ii, 1909 



front saloon or reading-room contains such journals and 

 periodicals of a general scientific character as are most in 

 demand. The librarian's room contains mathematical 

 journals, the society's own publications, and the various 

 scientific catalogues and dictionaries. In the council-room 

 the reports of scientific expeditions find a place, and the 

 quarto volumes of the American and Indian Geological 

 Surveys, and much of a connected nature. The back 

 saloon has already been described. In the basement we 

 find journals of zoology, botany and medicine, electrical 

 engineering, meteorology, geodesy, geology, &c. 



There are no book-cases in the meeting-room or recep- 

 tion-room, but on the second floor there are three fairly 

 large rooms and one small room filled with books. In 

 one we find periodicals and books bearing on geography, 

 biography, philosophy, philology, in another astronomy, 

 and in a third the literary weeklies, monthlies, and 

 quarterlies. 



This description is not, of course, exhaustive, for, besides 

 the periodical publications, the Royal Society of Edinburgh 

 possesses many books of historic value and antiquarian 

 interest ; also the complete works of famous men of science 

 from Galileo down the centuries. It will serve, however, 

 to show that, as regards the accessibility to their literary 

 treasures, the society has distinctly benefitted by their 

 change of location. 



The reception-room on the first floor, where the fellows 

 meet for tea and talk before the afternoon meetings and 

 after the evening meetings, has been beautifully designed, 

 largely under the advice of Sir George Reid. 



The least satisfactory of all the arrangements is the 

 meeting-room for the reading of papers, but it is difficult 

 to see how anything better could have been done. The 

 lecture table, with gas fittings, occupies part of one of the 

 long sides. The lantern-screen partly covers the black 

 boards on the wall behind, the lantern being ensconced in 

 a niche in the opposite wall. The hangings and decorative 

 busts have practically killed the echo which was heard 

 when the room was first tried. Yet to the many fellows 

 who remember what used to be, the present arrangement 

 lacks a certain undefinable flavour of old-world dignity. 

 There is too much of the modern lecture-room and too 

 little of the feeling of a scientific and literary society met 

 for the interchange of views. 



In other respects, however, the society has gained much 

 by its removal from the limited space at its disposal in 

 the Royal Institution to the spacious accommodation in 

 George Street. Its remark.able collection of portraits and 

 busts can now be seen to advantage, and the ready accessi- 

 bility to its valuable library of books and periodica! litera- 

 ture in all departments of science and in many depart- 

 ments of philosophy and art cannot but confer a great boon 

 to the fellows and others engaged in research work. 



The reception on Monday night was a large gathering, 

 representing all phases of' national life, such as Parlia- 

 ment, the Church, the Bench and the Bar, other legal 

 bodies, the Scottish universities and leading educational 

 institutions, the Royal Academy, municipalities, parish 

 councils, &c. 



THE INTERNATIONAL INVESTIGATIONS IN 



THE NORTH SEA AND THE SCOTTISH 



BOARD'S ANNUAL REPORTA 



CIX years have now elapsed since the commencement of 



the international fisheries' work by the seven nations 



concerned, and with the bulky literature and masses of 



tables and plates in hand it may be thought that now a 



stage has been reached which will demonstrate one way 



or another (he position of the sea-fisheries, especially as 



it was stated that results of importance were earlv to be 



forthcoming. Yet in scanning the various publications no 





1 Consell permanent lntern.ilion.il pour TExploration de la Mer. 

 Bulletin stalistique des Pcches maritimes de^ Pays du Nnrd de TEurore. 

 I'AnniSe 1906. Pp. 83. (Copenhagen : A. F. Host and Fils, 



15^0.) 



Rapports et Proces-verbaux des Reunions, vol xi., Juillet, ipoy-Juillet, 

 1908. Pp. XXV+176J-51. (Same publishers, 1900.) 



Rapports. SiC, vol X., Rapport sur les Tra\aux de la Commission dans 

 la Pifriode I90J-7. (Same publishers. 1Q09.) 



Twenty-sevenlh Annual Report of the Fishrry Tioard for Scotland for 

 the Year 1908. Part i., General Report. (Edinburgh : Oliver and Boyd.) 



NO. 2089, VOL. 82] 



very definite general conclusions are apparent, and the 

 question of primary importance to this country remains- — ■ 

 e.Kcepting the statistics of the bureau — as far from solution 

 as ever. To take the publications in the order above- 

 mentioned, the first is Dr. Kyle's important statistics of 

 the North Sea fisheries for 1906. So far as can be 

 observed, the total of the sea-fisheries of each nation shows 

 an increase both in quantity and value on the previous 

 year (1905), with the exception of Ireland. In the case of 

 such fishes as the cod and the haddock, the ever-recurring 

 variability displays itself in an increase of both in Den- 

 mark and the Netherlands, a diminution in Germany, an 

 increase of cod and a diminution of haddock in Belgium, 

 an increase of cod in Sweden, and a great increase of the 

 same fish in England and in Scotland. Along with this 

 is a considerable diminution of plaice in .Sweden, England, 

 and Belgium, and a considerable increase in Scotland and 

 the Netherlands, a great increase in Denmark, and a 

 nearly stationary condition in Germany. Dr. Kyle points 

 out, however, that this decrease is due to a diminished 

 capture of the smaller sizes of plaice (e.g. in England, 

 Holland, Germany, and Belgium). Much has been written 

 about the decrease of the lemon-dab (or so-called " Iemot> 

 sole ") in Scottish waters, yet in 1908 it brought 70,134!., 

 or 1400/. more than in the previous year. In the same 

 way, whilst the sole and the turbot vary in the different 

 nations, the dab remains stationary in Scotland, where it 

 was supposed by its increase to be ousting the plaice. 

 These statistics, which cover a much wdder area than it 

 is possible to allude to here, are perhaps the most 

 important result of the international scheme, and they 

 show how uncertain and variable sea-fishing is. More- 

 over, they demonstrate that whilst in one country the cap- 

 ture of a species may temporarily be diminished, in 

 another it is increased. The comparative constancy of the 

 totals and the large amount of fluctuation in individual 

 species are points emphasised by Dr. Kyle. Further, no 

 Continental nation approaches the share taken by Britain 

 in this industry, England having 39 per cent, and Scotland 



34 per cent, as their respective shares, the nearest being 

 Holland with 12 per cent., Germany having only 4-7 per 

 cent. 



The report of the International Council between July, 

 1907, and July, 1908, is chiefly occupii^d with the record 

 of changes in the personnel and an epitome of the seventh 

 annual meeting at Copenhagen. It is noteworthy that the 

 council is still in want of information concerning important 

 fishes, such as the plaice, flounder, and other flat fishes, 

 the haddock and other gadoids, and the herring and 

 mackerel of the North Sea. Anything like finality in its 

 labours seems as far distant as ever, yet hydrographicat 

 and " plankton " work still hold it. Prof. Garstang, 

 moreover, gives an interesting account of the distribution 

 of the plaice in the North Sea, Skagerak, and Kattegat 

 according to size, age, and frequency, no fewer than 

 2048 hauls of the trawl and 327,000 examples of plaice 

 having been dealt with ; yet the decline in the returns from 

 Sweden and Belgium after IQ04, and from Scotland aft' r 

 1905, must seriously affect the scope of the results. In 

 regard to general distribution, the facts corroborate those 

 elicited in 1S84,' viz., the occurrence of small plaice in 

 shallow water and of large in the deeper water, with a 

 constant interchange between the two areas. Yet it is 

 impossible to establish a hard-and-fast correlation between 

 the size of the plaice and depth. The very general dis- 

 tribution of this species over the North Sea is a further 

 guarantee for its safety. Mention is made of " dense " 

 accumulations of plaice in the " protected Scottish Firths," 

 but such accumulations were there before, protection 

 existed. It is stated that from fifteen to twenty plaice of 



35 cm. were caught per hour in the inner part of St. 

 .'\ndrews Bav, information which will cheer the fisher- 

 men there, since for thirty years at least the uniform sizes 

 caught for sale have been from 10 inches to 13 inches. The 

 idea that manv large plaice leave the Firth of Forth and 

 enter St. Andrews Bay during the autumn, thereafter 

 proceeding to deeper water to spawn, and again swell the 

 ranks in the Forth, is in need of confirmation. Similar 

 remarks apply to the changes noted in the large plaice 



1 Scientlfi'- Trawling Report, pp. si, 25, 43, 76, &c., 18S4, and in Gener.ir 

 Report, 1885, correspondingly. 



