December 2, 1909] 



NA TURE 



145 



TWO REPORTS ON MARINE INVESTIGA- 

 TIONS.' 



HTHE staff responsible for scientific investigations and 

 ■*• administration of fislieries under the Department of 

 Agriculture and Technical Instruction for Ireland is attack- 

 ing its problems with insight and energy, and is laying up 

 a store of information of permanent value and interest. 

 It is somewhat startling at this stage to note that Mr. 

 Holt finds it necessary in his report on international 

 investigations to expound the w-herefore of hjdrographical 

 and plankton investigations and their bearing upon prac- 

 tical fishery problems. He states the case clearly and well, 

 pointing out the necessity of studying the variations in the 

 " annual ocean tide," of investigating the relation between 

 salinity and plankton distribution, and of determining how 

 far plankton conditions the abundance or absence of pelagic 

 fishes, and hence may be taken as a guide in practical 

 fishery pursuits. The ultimate end is the foretelling of 

 physical conditions — favourable or unfavourable — from 

 knowledge of prior causative factors, and thus preventing 

 blindly tentative and unremunerative fishing operations. 

 This research is of primary importance to Ireland, the staple 

 fisheries of which are for the pelagic and plankton-eating 

 mackerel and herring. The report further deals with the 

 trawling survey of ffie deep-water grounds off the south- 

 west coast, with mackerel and herring fisheries, oyster and 

 other bivalve fisheries, and their artificial culture by the 

 Department. 



In connection with inland fisheries, a valuable fund of 

 information is afforded by the publication of a summary 

 of reports from many dilTerent local observers as to the 

 migrations, abundance, and condition of salmon, grilse, 

 and sniolts. Local observations relating to the movements 

 of eel fry up the Irish rivers are similarly collated. 



.^mong the papers comprising the appendix is a second 

 report on the Copepoda of the Irish Atlantic slope, by 

 Mr. G. P. Farran, which deals with a total of 164 species, 

 thirty of them being new and three being made types of 

 new genera. The same naturalist writes on the distribu- 

 tion of the Thaliacea and Pyrosoma in Irish waters, dis- 

 cussing their occurrence in relation to hydrographical 

 factors. 



In collaboration with Mr. L. W. Byrne, the scientific 

 adviser to the Department contributes a second report on 

 the fishes of the Irish .'\tlantic slope, containing detailed 

 descriptions and figures of Scorpaenidae and .Mepocephalida;, 

 and a further list of recent additions to the British-Irish 

 fish fauna. Two further appendices are the result of 

 pioneer work under the auspices of the Ulster Fisheries 

 and Biological Association : one by Mr. Geo. C. Gough on 

 the bottom deposits of Larne Lough, and the other by Mr. 

 H. J. Buchanan-Wollaston on the simple ascidians of the 

 Larne district. 



The volume on marine investigations in South Africa is 

 a continuation of the reports on South African marine 

 biology published by the Cape Department of .Agriculture 

 under the editorship of Dr. J. D. F. Gilchrist, Government 

 biologist of the colony. Various groups of marine animals 

 containing several new species of great interest form the 

 subject of eight papers written by authorities, and well 

 illustrated with thirty-five plates. Dr. Gilchrist's paper on 

 new South .African fishes adds to our knowledge of the 

 deep-water forms two genera of Zeidae and a new species 

 of a genus already described for these w-aters, viz. 

 Cyttosoma, which may be the adult of Cuvier and 

 \'alencienne's Oreosoma. A third new genus and five new 

 species from the same locality are also described. Among 

 notes on other deep-sea forms, perhaps the most interesting 

 observations are in reference to sexual dimorphism in 

 Scopelus coccoi, the males of which bear luminous scales 

 on the upper side of the caudal region and the females on 

 the lower side of it. Of shallow-water forms new snecies 

 are described in the families of Scorosnlds, Mugilidae. 

 Pleuronectidae, and Clupeid,T. The Pelecvnoda are dealt 

 with by Mr. G. B. Sowerby, who describes thirty-three 

 soecies new to science. A continuation of the report on 

 Crustacea, by the Rev. Thos. R. R. Stebbing, contains 



1 Report on the Sea and Inland Fisherie<J of Ireland for 1906. Part ii., 

 Scientific Investigations. Pp. xiv-f 274- [Cd. 4^05.] (tgrg.) 



Marine Investigations in South .Africa. Vol. iv. Pp. 196. (Cape Tow-n, 



accounts of further species — some showing remarkable 

 characters as regards pigmentation and luminous organs — • 

 of Macrura, Brachyura, Schizopoda, and the interesting 

 parasitic copepod Penella orthagorisci. Mr. P. T. Cleve 

 adds to his plankton contributions a report on the Halo- 

 cyprids, Cypridina;, and pelagic .Annelida and Chstog- 

 natha. A new Cephalodiscus is described in minute detail 

 by Dr. W. G. Ridewood, who includes in his paper a key 

 to the identification of the seven species of this genus now 

 known. A short paper by Prof. F. Jefl'rey Bell describing 

 three new crinoids is marred by three different renderings 

 of the specific name of a new Antedon (presumably 

 A. magnicirra). Still a fourth variation of spelling appears 

 in the index ! 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



Cambridge. — The syndicate appointed to consider the 

 steps to be taken for the erection of a building for the 

 Department of Agriculture reports that the erection of the 

 building is now practically completed, and the fittings 

 sanctioned are in a forward state. The syndicate antici- 

 pates that the building will be ready for occupation by 

 the department at the beginning of the Lent term of igio. 



At a Congregation to be held on Thursday, December 9, 

 at 2 p.m., it is proposed to confer the degree of Doctor 

 of Science, honoris causa, upon Mark .Aurel Stein. 



A short address will be given at the Cavendish Labora- 

 tory on Monday, December 6, at 5 p.m., by Mr. G. F.C. 

 Searle, on a course of experimental lectures on geometrical 

 optics specially designed for candidates for the mathe- 

 matical tripos, which has been arranged for the Lent term. 

 1910. A number of experiments, with very simple 

 apparatus, illustrating the principles of geometrical optics 

 will be shown. The attendance of mathematical teachers 

 and others interested in the subject is invited. 



Mr. B. N. Wale, senior lecturer in agriculture at the 

 South-eastern Agricultural College, Wye, has been 

 appointed principal of the Seale-Hayne Agricultural College 

 in Devonshire. 



The London Universit\' College Committee will shortly 

 proceed to appoint a Derby scholar in zoology. The value 

 of the scholarship is 60/. per annum, tenable for two years. 

 Candidates must have been students of University College 

 in zoologv. Full particulars can be obtained from the 

 secretary. 



The Lord Mayor has arranged a conference at the 

 Mansion House on December 3, at 3 p.m., for the dis- 

 cussion of the question of industrial training in education, 

 the development of trade schools, the position of apprentice- 

 ship and of the apprenticeship charities, and the establish- 

 ment of employment bureaux to bring children leaving 

 school into touch with employers of labour. The chairman 

 and members of the London County Council are expected 

 to be present. 



.A suMM.^RV of the returns made to the Education Com- 

 mittee of the London County Council of attendances for 

 the four weeks ended October 30 last at the polytechnics, 

 technical institutes, and schools of art aided by the Council 

 gives some striking results. The returns deal w'ith ten 

 polvtechnics and twenty other institutions. In the poly- 

 technics by October 30 last 20.820 individual students were 

 enrolled since the beginning of the session, as compared 

 with 26,410 in attendance for February last. The average 

 number of student attendances a week was, for October, 

 61,158, and for February, 51,019. In the technical insti- 

 tutes and schools of art together, the grand total of in- 

 dividual students enrolled since the beginning of the session 

 was, for October, 28,558, and for February. 35,911 : the 

 average number of student attendances a w'eek were 73.482 

 and 62,357 respectively. It w-ould appear from these 

 numbers that the interest and enthusiasm of the students 

 flag as the session advances, or else that the counter attrac- 

 tions of the winter prove too strong for a number of 

 students. 



The October number of the Journal of the Association 

 of Teachers in Technical Institutions contains the report 



SO. 2092, VOL. 82] 



