762 EEPORT— 1892. 



environment — i.e., supply of pabulum and stimulation by physical forces — tend to 

 subsequent similar action.' From the study of g:rowth, movement, and expression 

 of mental states, the author suggests that 'all vital phenomena occur in the parts of 

 a living body ; they necessitate not only supply of pabulum, but also stimulation 

 by force ; these conditions together are commonly called the environment, and are 

 capable in many cases of determining a control leading to subsequent co-ordinated 

 action.' It appears that when once a special combination, or group of ratios of 

 growth of parts, has been established by the environment, it tends to recur, and 

 may be easily reproduced or called into action. 



The facts accumulated in a report on 60,000 children observed by the author 

 appear to confirm these views, showing that defects in development of the body 

 are largely co-related with defects of the nerve-system in its power of co-ordination 

 and mental function. 



A table showing methods of observation and description of living objects, the 

 nerve-system in action, and conditions of children was appended to the paper. 



MONDAY, AUGUST 8. 

 The following Papers were read : — 



1. A Slcetch of the Scottish Fisheries, chiefly in their Scientifl.c Aspects, 

 during the past decade (1882-1892). By Professor W. C. McIntosh, 

 F.E.iS. L. and E. 



At the period with which the present survey begins the pelagic condition of 

 the eggs of the food-fishes was little known to scientific men in Britain, though 

 Sars and others had described this condition in the eggs of cod, haddock, and 

 gurnard, while others had added the eggs of the pollack, bib, pilchard, mackerel, 

 &c. The complaints of the fishermen in regard to the scarcity of sea-fishes caused 

 the Government to appoint a Royal Commission about the commencement of this 

 period (viz., in 1883) to inquire into the matter, with Lord Dalhousie as chair- 

 man. No statistics were then available to show whether the iisheiies were really 

 dimuiishing. It was known that larger boats, longer lines, and a larger number 

 of men were engaged in the pursuit, so that, even though fishes were abundant in 

 the market, it might be that the fishermen of to-day gathered them from a much 

 ■wider area than in former times. Consequently the maintenance of an efficient 

 supply might be coincident with an actual diminution. Moreover, shortly before 

 this period beam-trawling by means of steam-vessels had been introduced into 

 Scottish waters, and furtlier complicated the question. The ( Uimmissiou sifted all 

 the matters complained of as fully as was possible, and, after the lapse of seven or 

 eight years, Professor Mcintosh did not think that any change of importance can 

 be made in their carefully drawn conclusions. 



Shortly afterwards the Fishery Board for Scotland, acting on the authority 

 obtained through the Commission, closed certain waters against beam-trawling — 

 viz., St. Andrews Bay, Aberdeen Bay, and the Forth — and procured a small 

 steam-vessel (the Garland) for scientific experiments, and especially to inquire 

 whether beam-trawling is an injurious mode of fishing. Stations were arranged 

 for in the various areas, and in 1886 a commencement was made. 



In examining the elaborate statistics, carefully drawn up by the Fishery Board, 

 on the trawling experiments of the Garland, the author varied the mode of 

 drawing deductions from them ; in short, they were handled as in the report for 

 the Royal Commission, the fishes captured being divided into two groups — viz., 

 saleable and unsaleable — and St. Andrews Bay, about which most is known, 

 alone considered. Without going into detail, these statistics show considerable 

 variation. In 1886 twenty-one hauls of the trawl gave 1,792 saleable and 1,186 

 unsaleable fishes, or a total of 2,978. In 1887 the same number of hauls produced 

 2,649 saleable and 5,525 unsaleable, or a total of 8,174, or more than twice the 



