TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 91 



Eu"land aflbrded protection for the fish ; and his friend, Mr. Ffennel, Inspector of 

 Fisheries, was always busy in obtaining facts, which yroidd enable him to gain 

 knowledge on which the laws for the futiu-e should be amended and regidated. He 

 had tided last year to obtain a hybrid between a salmon and a trout, and had been 

 much laughed at for his pains. Still he was pleased to inform the meeting that 

 Thomas Gamett, Esq., of Clitheroe, had succeeded, not only this year, but also. in 

 pre\-ious years ; and this gentleman was the first in England to obtain success in 

 this cm-ious experiment. M. Coste had moreover shown him, a few days since, in 

 Paris, several specimens of hybrids between salmon and trout, and also one between 

 the trout and the " ombre chevalier," or chaiT, the latter being a most curiously 

 striped fish. M. Coste had also shown fish hatched from the' eggs of a salmon 

 which had neve)- been to the sea, having been confined aU its life in a freshwater pond, 

 proving that even though salmon do not thrive without going to the sea, still they 

 will carry eggs capable of producing young. Upon the subject of salmon -ladders 

 Mr. Buckland was very earnest, pointing out that it was not only cruel, but exceed- 

 ingly short-sighted policy not to assist the salmon to get to the 'upper waters to lay 

 their eggs ; it was just the same as not putting a ladder to allow the hens to get 

 up to their roosts. How could salmon be expected to get over a wall any more 

 than a human being, imless a ladder were provided for either fish or man ? So 

 with the sahnon-ladders. He then explained other difficulties, particularly that 

 of finding a gi-atiug to prevent salmon swimming up mill-races, and getting injured 

 by the mill-wheels. No grating had hitherto'been invented which at the 'same 

 time would prevent the salmon rumiing up and not lead back the water on to the 

 wheel and stop its action. Mr. Buckland concluded his paper as follows : — " Thus, 

 then, I have endeavoured to bring before the members of the British Association 

 certain facts relative to two great branches of British industn' — the cultivation of 

 the sea and the cultivation of the rivers ; the revenues derived li-om these, both to 

 private owners and to the public ia general in the form of food, would, if put toge- 

 ther, amoimt to an enormous sum, and still neither industry is as vet half developed. 

 As regards the artificial hatching of oysters, so that they shoijd be taken inland 

 like the salmon, the question presents enormous ditficulties ; the question of space, 

 tlie quantity of water required, the temperature, and many other conditions are as 

 yet imdetermined, and I see at this moment a mountain of 'difficulties before me. I 

 have, however, taken my staff" in hand, and am preparing to ascend that mountain, 

 at aU risks. I am anxious, therefore, to bring the results of many hundred miles of 

 tra\el and of many weeks of out-of-door observations in England, Ireland, and 

 France, before the British Association, in order that the scientific men of England 

 may know that the investigation into the habits and improvement of these two 

 creatures — the salmon and the oyster — is no mere child's play nor shnply amuse- 

 ment, but, on the contrary, the very foundation-stone of a ■\eiy" large and important 

 British industry, to which the experienced minds of scientific men have onlv to be 

 directed in order to produce great and beneficial good to the public, and especially 

 to the poorer classes of society." 



On a very Ancient Human Cranium from Gibraltar. 

 Bi/ G. Btjsk, F.B.S., Sec. L.S., F.G.S. 



The cranium that formed the subject of this communication was found in a 

 quan-y situated under the north face of the Rock of Gibraltar; and from the 

 matrix with which it was thickly covered, and which contained a very large pro- 

 portion of coarse rolled sUiceous sea-sand, similar to that whicli is blown up in such 

 large quantities against the north-eastern end of the rock, it was apparent that it 

 had been lodged in the superficial part of the talus hi which the quarry is worked. 

 The remarkable form of the cranium, resembling that of tlie one foimd in the 

 Neauderthal Cave, was described, together with the pecidiar confonuation of the 

 face and jaw apart, which is wanting in the latter. 



The general appearance and condition of the bone showed that it was of great 

 antiquitv, but from the absence of any associated remains, and of very precise 

 infoi-mation as to the site in which it was discovered, it was impossible 'to assign 

 any approximate period to it. 



