448 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. I., No. 16. 



centlj-, the government of Austria participated 

 in fifteen. Amsterdam, Zuricli, Lisbon, Ham- 

 burg, Vienna, Madras, and Tokio, among oth- 

 ers, have exhibitions of A'arying scope now in 

 progress, or soon to open. 



The fisheries exhibition is an institution at 

 the success of wliich even the most sanguine 

 seem to be astonished. No one has yet pro- 

 pounded a theory which explains satisfactorily 

 the reason wh}- these exhibitions succeed, j-et 

 succeed the}' do, perhaps more fully than 

 special exhibitions of an}- other kind ; and, 

 moreover, the}' seem to enlist the interest of 

 a larger number of scientific workers than do 

 other exhibitions, though, of course, the elec- 

 trical, geographical, and meteorological exhibi- 

 tions are attractive in a higher degre.e to the 

 students of those individual specialties. 



The Berlin fisheries exhibition of 1880 was 

 largely under the control of specialists in 

 science. Among its most active supporters 

 were men like Virchow, Peters, Magnus, 

 Hilgendorf, Dohrn, Mobius, Von Siebold, 

 Nitsche, Oscar Schmidt,^ H. A. Meyer, Witt- 

 mack, and Jager, almost all of whom were on 

 the board of direction ; while, as commission- 

 ers and jurors, Italy sent Targioni-Tozzetti, 

 Gigholi, Eicchiardi, Pavesi, Vinciguerra, and 

 Cavanni, in short, all her marine zoologists ; 

 Bohemia, Fritsch ; Denmark, Liitken ; Russia, 

 De Solsky and Grrimm ; Norway, Raasch and 

 Collet ; and Sweden, Smitt, Thorel, and Malm. 

 It is not difficult to understand why a states- 

 man, diplomatist, and political economist like 

 Professor Virchow should be willing to give 

 up his days and nights for two months to com- 

 mittee and jury meetings, when it is remem- 

 bered how much stress Germany places upon 

 all which relates to the food-supply and the 

 economy of all natural resources ; but other in- 

 terests must have influenced men like Von 

 Siebold and Peters. 



A similar array of names known to science 

 appears in the prospectus of the London ex- 

 hibition. Among the vice-presidents are the 

 Duke of Argyll, Lord Walsingham, Sir John 

 Lubbock, Professor Huxley, Dr. Gunther, and 

 Mr. Spottiswoode, several of whom, together 

 with Professor Flower, Mr. Robert H. Scott, 

 Sir Philip Cunliff'e Owen, and Mr. Saville Kent, 

 are members of the general committee. It 

 seems a little remarkable, however, to see the 

 name of the president of the Royal society 

 standing at the very tail of the list of vice- 

 presidents, followed only by " The prime war- 

 den, wardens, and court of assistants, of the 

 fishmongers company." At the other extreme 

 is placed II. R. H. the Duke of Edinburgh. 



James Russell Lowell, Esq., is also a vice- 

 president, his name standing between those of 

 the Duke of Westminster and the Marquess 

 of Salisbury. 



Among the foreign commissioners are Prof. 

 F. A. Smitt of Stockholm, R. Trybom of 

 Lund, and Dr. Malm of Gothenburg, Professor 

 De Solsky of St. Petersburg, Professor Hu- 

 brecht and Baron Von Hert of Utrecht, Pro- 

 fessor Giglioli of Florence, Professor Nitsche 

 of Tharandt, and Dr. M. Lindeman of Bremen. 

 Surgeon-Gen. Francis Day is acting as com- 

 missioner for India. 



An examination of the classification of the 

 exhibition discloses the nature of the tie which 

 binds together the varied interests represented 

 in the lists of names which have been quoted. 

 The ethnologist and the mechanician, as well 

 as the fisherman, are concerned in the ' fishing- 

 gear and the fishing-craft of all nations ; ' the 

 meteorologist and the pharologist, as well as 

 the philanthropist, in the ' life-saving appara- 

 tus of all kinds ; ' the physicist, as well as the 

 navigator, in the " compasses, barometers, tele- 

 scopes, lights, lamps, fog-horns, systems of 

 signalling, electric lights, luminous paint and 

 other equipments of fishing- vessels," and in 

 " methods of communication from the shore 

 to lightships and fishing-fleets by submarine 

 cables, telephone, or other means of signal- 

 ling ; ' ' while the geographer and geologist find 

 something to interest them in the charts and 

 relief-models of the ocean and its bottom. The 

 chemist, the sanitarian and physiologist, as well 

 as the merchant, transporter, and manufac- 

 turer, are touched by the section which illus- 

 trates the preparation, preservation, and utiliza- 

 tion of fish, and the food, apparel, and dwellings 

 of the fishermen. The jurist, the statesman, 

 and the historian may study the " History and 

 literature of fishing, fishery-laws, and fish-com- 

 merce." Biologists of every class must study 

 classes TV. and V. ; for the word ' fish' is 

 broadly interpreted, and is held to signify any 

 creature living in the waters : to wit, as enu- 

 merated, a. Algae, to be arranged under gen- 

 era and species, with localities appended ; &, 

 sponges in their natural state ; c, corals in their 

 natural state, polyps, jelly-fish, etc. ; d, ento- 

 zoa and epizoa ; e, mollusca of all kinds ; /, 

 star-fishes, sea-urchins, holothurians ; g, worms 

 used for bait, or noxious ; leeches, etc. ; /t, per- 

 fect insects, and larvae of insects, which are 

 destroyers of spawn, or serve as food for fish ; 

 I, Crustacea of all kinds ; k, fish of all kinds ; I, 

 reptiles, such as tortoises, turtles, terrapins, liz- 

 ards, serpents, frogs, newts, etc. ; m, aquatic 

 and other birds hostile to fish or fishing ; n, 



