r 



ON FOSSIL CRUSTACEA. 321 



while the penalties for its infringement were diminished. In this form it 

 went back to the House of Commons, and with a few other alterations finally 

 passed that House, and was sent to the House of Lords. 



6. In the Upper House charge of the BiU was taken by the Earl of Malmes- 

 bury, and, some fault being found with it, its provisions were further altered in 

 Committee, a person convicted of a first offence being rendered Liable to a repri- 

 mand and the payment of costs and summons only. Thus modified it was re- 

 turned to the House of Commons, and has since received Her Majesty's assent. 



7. Tour Committee caunot look with unmixed favour on this measure. It 

 appears to them to attemj)t to do too much, and not to provide eff'ectual means 

 of doing it. In their former Heports they have hinted at, if not expressed, 

 the difiioulty or impossibility of passing any general measure, which, without 

 being oppressive to any class of persons, should be adequate to the purpose. 

 Further consideration has strengthened their opinion on this point. They 

 fear that the new Act, though far from a general measure, will be a very 

 inefficient check to the destruction of those birds, which, from their yearly 

 decreasing numbers, most require protection, its restraining power having 

 been weakened for the sake of protecting a number of birds which do not 

 require protection at aU. Your Committee have never succeeded in obtain- 

 ing any satisfactory evidence, much less any convincing proof, that the num- 

 bers of small birds are generally decreasing in this country. On the con- 

 trary,- they believe that, from various causes, many if not most species of 

 small birds are actually on the increase. They are therefore of opinion that 

 an Act of Parliament proposing to promote their preservation is a piece of 

 mistaken legislation, and is mischievous in its effect, since it diverts public 

 attention from those species which, through neglect, indifference, custom, 

 cupidity, or prejudice, are suffering a persecution that will in a few years 

 ensure their complete extermination. At the same time your Committee are 

 glad to state that such protection as is afforded by the new Act will be ex- 

 tended to the particular group of birds which in former Reports they have 

 shown to require it most, all the Wild Fowl named in the Bill prepared by 

 your Committee having been included in the schedule of the Act. It is also 

 gratifying to your Committee to find that the principle of a " Close Time " 

 for all birds has been admitted by the House of Commons, though the appli- 

 cation of that principle may at present be inexpedient. Tour Committee 

 therefore trust that the Act will not be otherwise than beneficial in its results ; 

 and though greatly indebted to many noblemen and gentlemen for the assis- 

 tance they have rendered, your Committee cannot refrain from especially 

 thanking Mr. Andrew Johnston for the skill and patience he has shown in 

 the conduct of the BiU introduced. 



8. Tour Committee respectfully suggest that they may be reappointed. 



I 



Sixth Report of the Committee appointed for the purpose of continuing 

 Researches in Fossil Crustacea, consisting of Professor P. Martin 

 Duncan, F.R.S., Henry Woodward, F.G.S., and Robert 

 Etheridge, F.R.S. Drawn up by Henry Woodward, F.G.S. 



Since I had the pleasure of presenting my last Report at Edinburgh, I am glad 

 to be able to state that two entire parts (Parts III. and IV.) of my Mono- 

 1872. z 



