130 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol.. a.. No. 26. 



though perhaps more agreeably, in a hall of 

 the same size by about two hundred gas-jets. 

 The expense of lighting some twenty halls b}' 

 gas in this generous manner must be far greater 

 than b}' electrieitj'. 



On the 18th of June the International fishery 

 conference began its sessions in the conser- 

 vatory of the Roj'al horticultural society, ad- 

 joining the exhibition galleries. Meetings 

 have since been held every day except Wednes- 

 day's and Saturdays. The inaugural address 

 was delivered by Professor Huxley, and was 

 an admirable introduction to the papers which 

 were to follow. First referring to the an- 

 tiquitj' of fisheries and their influence upon 

 the history of man, he spoke at some length 

 of the fisheries of the Phoenicians, the Romans, 

 and the earlj' Britons. Insisting upon the 

 importance of fish as food, he next took up 

 the question, 'Are the fisheries exhaustible?' 

 and, after tacitly admitting that certain fisheries ' 

 may be destroyed, went on to describe the 

 enormous abundance of cod, mackerel, her- 

 rings, and sardines, and to express his firm 

 belief that their numbers cannot be eflected 

 by human agenc}". He concluded with a very 

 strong condemnation of unnecessary legis- 

 lation. 



Upon this occasion the Prince of Wales 

 presided, and there was an impressive assem- 

 blage of diplomats and state officials. On the 

 following da}' the prince again was present, 

 and read a paper an hour and a half in length, 

 written b}- his brother the Duke of Edinburgh, 

 who is absent in Russia attending the corona- 

 tion of the czar. This paper, entitled ' Notes 

 on the sea-fisheries and fishing population of 

 the United Kingdom,' is in many respects the 

 most remarkable which has been presented to 

 the conference. It is hy far the most exhaus- 

 tive and scholarly essay on the fisheries of 

 Great Britain which has ever been published, 

 and contains a great store of valuable facts 

 gathered by the Duke of Edinburgh during the 

 three 3'ears in which he served as admiral in 

 command of the naval reserve, together with 

 extensive statistics obtained at his instance 

 bj- the men of the coast-guard. On the 21st 

 Sir James Gibson Maitland, the proprietor of 

 the most extensive fish-cultural establishment 

 in Europe, located at Howieton, near Stirling, 

 read a paper on the ' Culture of Salmouidae and 

 the acclimatization of fish,' and the following 

 day Professor Leone Levi of Universitj' college, 

 London, on the ' Economic condition of fisher- 

 men,' — an important contribution to social 

 economy. On Mondaj^ the 26th, the Ameri- 

 can commissioner read a paper on the ' Fish- 



eries of the United States and the work of the 

 U. S. fish-commission.' Mr. James Russell 

 Lowell occupied the chair, and made one of 

 his wise and witty little speeches which are so 

 thoroughlv enjoj-ed by the English people. 



On the' 28th Mr. R. W. Dutf, M.P., spoke 

 on the ' Herring fisheries ; ' on the 29th Prof. 

 A. A. W. Hubrecht of Utrecht universit_y, on 

 ' Oyster-culture and the oyster-fisheries in 

 Holland,' and Mr. R. B. Marston, on' Coarse 

 fish-culture,' — 'coarse fish' in England 

 signifying fresh-water fish other than the 

 Salmonidae. On July 1 Mr. L. Z. Joncas 

 read a paper on the ' Fisheries of the Domin- 

 ion (of Canada) ; ' and, on the 3d, Professor 

 Huxle}' spoke most instructively upon the ' Dis- 

 eases of fishes,' confining his remarks to the 

 history of the salmon-infesting Saprolegnia 

 ferax. On the 5th several of the commission- 

 ers from continental European nations spoke 

 of the fisheries of their respective countries, 

 and on the 6th Capt. Temple gave an account 

 of the antarctic seal-fisheries. 



The discussions have been in some instances 

 important, though the usual disposition to 

 ramble has been difficult to check. In fact, 

 the ponderous British sj'stem of closing each 

 session with four formal speeches, in connec- 

 tion with the votes of thanks to the chairman 

 and the speaker, has rather tended to encour- 

 age the utterances of generalities. The ' prac- 

 tical men,' as they style themselves, who take 

 the very unnecessary precaution of informing 

 their hearers that they make no claim to being 

 • scientific,' have been rampant at these meet- 

 ings. Professor Huxley's inaugural address 

 has caused great unhappiness to those who 

 believe in legislative protection without limit 

 or reason. Close seasons for river-fisheries 

 are needful and useful ; but What is to be done 

 with economists who claim that legislation will 

 relieve the salmon from its pestilential para- 

 site, the Saprolegnia ferax? 



The juries began their sessions about the 

 middle of the month ; and the galleries are 

 still daih' invaded b\' enterprising little groups 

 of men with note-books. Their task is not a 

 light one ; for the number of exhibiters must 

 be at least three thousand, and the heat is 

 greater than London has known since 18C0. 

 Science is well represented among the jurj-- 

 men : Professor Flower, Professor Allman, 

 Mr. John W. Clark of the Cambridge museum. 

 Mr. Henrj- Woodward of the British museum, 

 Professor Mosele}' of Oxford, Mr. John Mur- 

 ray of the Challenger, Lord Russell, Dr. 

 Murie (secretary of the Linnaean societj') , Dr. 

 Francis Da^', Professor Huxley, Mr. R. H. 



