ee —— 
TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 91 
of the great Severn; Chester weir, that blocked the Dee; Tadcaster weir, on the 
Wharfe, &c. Besides these large weirs, there were mill-weirs innumerable on 
most salmon rivers which would otherwise be highly productive. The study of 
salmon-ladders was of the greatest importance. He exhibited several models of 
ladders which might be applied to weirs at a reasonable cost, and without inter- 
fering with the water supply. The question of pollutions was a very serious one, 
not only for the fish, but also for the public health. He instanced the Dovey, the 
Tees, the South Tyne, &c., which were suffering under “hush” from the lead 
mines ; the Fowey, the Camel, &c., which suffered from the débris of China-clay 
works and other mines; and he deprecated the habit of allowing chloride of lime 
to run into the rivers. Paper-makers were great culprits in this matter. The law 
of pollutions should be made much stronger. He earnestly requested the attention 
of the Section to the question of “close time” for salmon, as the evidence went 
to show that the Welsh, Cornish, and Devonshire rivers were “later rivers” than 
the Severn, Dee, Tay, Wye, &c. Mr. Buckland then expounded his theory as to 
the cause of the failure of oysters for the last six years. The cause of the success 
this year, he considered, was warm weather and tranquil water. He had pub- 
lished, in ‘Land and Water,’ temperatures taken daily, during the months of June, 
July, and August, at five different oyster fisheries. The results, he thought, con- 
firmed his theory. He had obtained a heavy fall of spat at his experimental 
fishery at Reculvers, near Herne Bay. There had also been a fall of spat in the 
rivers Crouce, Roach, and on the grounds of the Herne Bay Oyster Company, but 
he believed that the Colne and the Blackwater had not been so favoured. The author 
called the attention of the public to his ‘‘ Museum of Economic Fish Culture,” 
at the Horticultural Gardens, Kensington. The author had hatched and sent 
away to different rivers nearly 40,000 salmon and trout last year; and in his col- 
lection would be found models, coloured casts of most of the economic fish, fishing- 
nets, and other implements connected with the improvement of British fisheries, 
as well as a series showing the growth, development, and natural history of 
oysters. Samples of oysters from nearly all the British oyster fisheries were also 
exhibited. 
On the Distribution of the principal Timber Trees of India, and the progress 
of Forest Conservancy. By Dr. Hueu CrucHory, 
When the British Association met at Edinburgh in 1850, a committee* was 
appointed to consider “ the probable effects, in an economical and physical point 
of view, of the destruction of tropical forests.” Their report was presented in 
1851 at Ipswich, and is printed in the volume for that year. Attention was thus 
directed in India to the importance of preserving every influence which tends to 
maintain an equilibrium of temperature aud humidity, of preventing the waste of 
yaluable material, and the special application to their various uses of the indi- 
genous timbers of the country. r 
A few years later, forest establishments were sanctioned in British Burmah 
(1855), and in the Madras Presidency (1856); and in 1864 Government laid the 
foundation of an improved general system of forest administration for the whole 
Indian Empire, having for its object the conservation of state forests, and the deve- 
lopment of this source of national wealth. The appointment of Inspector-General 
of Forests was made, and it is now held by Dr. D. Brandis, formerly the able con- 
servator in British Burmah. ; 
The executive arrangements were left to the local administrations, general princi- 
ples being laid down, the most important of which is that all superior Govern- 
ment forests are reserved and made inalienable, and their boundaries marked out 
to distinguish them from waste lands available for the public. Act 7 of 1864, de- 
fining the nature of forest rules and penalties, has been adopted by most of the local 
Governments. 
Valuation surveys have been made to obtain reliable data as to the geographic 
* The late Dr. Forbes Royle, King’s College, London; the late Colonel R. Baird 
Smith, R.E.; Colonel Richard Strachey, R.E.; Dr. H. Cleghorn, F.L.S. 
