410 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXll. 



" of 24 Parganas, Howrah and Hooghly. The impregnated eggs float in 

 " small lumps near the shallow edges of rivers and are collected in a piece 

 " of cloth by certain low caste people and also by fishermen. They are 

 " bought by the rearers at the rate of Rs. 5 to Es. 8 for a handful and 

 " put in shallow ponds where they hatch in a few days. In about a 



' month'' s time it becomes possible to distinguish the various kinds. The fry 

 " are then caught with fine nets, sorted and put in different tanks : at the 

 " same time some are disposed of to hawkers who carry them about for 



" sale to stockers of ta.nks. Eggs and spawn are largely caught in the 

 " Hooghly from above Cossipore and in the Rupnarayan, Amta in Howrah 

 " being considered one of the largest centres." * 



It is unfortunate that the report should have omitted to name the 

 species dealt with in this manner : but the sentence italicised shows that 

 Bengali fishermen know of more than one species which produces floating 

 spawn. And should this paper meet the eye of the Commissioner of 

 Fisheries, Bengal, or of the authorities of the Calcutta Museum, we shall no 

 doubt be told the names of the species indicated, whether their eggs float 

 of their own buoyancy or otherwise and other details. Meantime the 

 methods described strike a fish culturist as wasteful and crude. For spawn 

 floating down rivers must be subject to the attacks of innimierable 

 enemies from whom it would be easy to protect it at inconsiderable expense 

 in such a way as to double (at least) the percentage of successful hatchings. 

 Undoubtedly however there exists in India an ancient and deeply rooted 

 love of fish culture. This, as Dr. Day and Mr. Thomas pointed out to deaf 

 ears many years ago, only needs direction and encouragement along simple 

 lines to solve the question of the exhaustion of inland fisheries. It is not 

 too late. And Government is apparently at length awake to the necessities 

 of the situation. May it never forget that the success of its eff'orts wiU 

 depend on "knowledge of the breeding habits of fishes under natural 

 conditions," and that such knowledge will be available to all anglers who 

 will cultivate the good will of the professional fishermen. It is perhaps not 

 too much to hope that time will see the establishment of some central office 

 which will collect, sift and difi"use in popular form the data collected for it 

 by the many good naturalists who explore the waters of the Empire. 



G. C. L. HOWELL, f.z.s, 

 GuRDASPUR, 30i7j April 1913. 



Since the above was written (I understand) Mr. H. 0. Wilson, Piscicul- 

 tural Expert to the Madras Government, has carefully investigated the 

 breeding habits of Ophiocephalus punctatus at the Sankesula Fish Farm. 

 Those interested in Natural History in India will look forward with interest 

 to an account from the pen of this able naturalist. 



G. C. L.H. 



No. XXVII.— NOTES ON THE HABITS OF SOME 

 COMMON BUTTERFLIES, ETC, 



As it appears from the article on Butterflies in Vol. XXII, Part I of the 

 Journal that the habits of some species mentioned have not yet been 

 recorded, the following notes may be of interest. 



Pieris brassicce nepalensis. — Many larvae closely resembling those of P. 

 brassiccs — though like the butterfly averaging I should say a little larger 



'K. G-. Grupta, I.C.S. Bengral Report No- 39. Revenue Department, dated 20th 

 February, 1907. Calcutta 1908, para. 101 (obtainable from Messrs. Constable & Co. 

 10. Orange Street, Leicester Square, W.C) 



