306 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XVI. No. 399. 



species; 15 of these are regarded as accidental 

 or occasional stragglers from the ocean, 85 

 are small inedible species, and 41 are market- 

 able forms. Of the last named, the most nu- 

 merous and commercially important family 

 are the Pleuronectidte, 18 species being record- 

 ed and noted in detail. 



The constitution and work of the sea-fisher- 

 ies committees are referred to at length. 

 These committees are analogous to the State 

 fish commissions of the United States, but 

 their organization and methods are very dif- 

 ferent. They are all subordinate to the na- 

 tional Board of Trade, but are vested with 

 large powers in matters of legislation, regula- 

 tion and investigation; and their work has a 

 number of features that our local fish commis- 

 sions could consider to advantage. The en- 

 tire absence of artificial propagation of fishes 

 and other animals is in strong contrast with 

 other countries. Two appendices contain a 

 full draft of the by-laws proposed for the 

 Lancashire and Western sea-fisheries district, 

 and a detailed statement of the results of ex- 

 perimental dredge-hauls, fishing trials, etc. 

 The gathering of shrimps, one of the leading 

 fishery industries of the Irish Sea, is shown to 

 have a remarkable influence on the abundance 

 of fishes and is one of the subjects in dealing 

 with which the services of the biologist have 

 proved most useful. From numerous test trials, 

 it has been demonstrated that shrimping on cer- 

 tain grounds at certain times is enormously 

 destructive to immature fish, as many as 10,- 

 000 undersized fish sometimes being killed in 

 taking one quart of shrimp, and the average 

 destruction per quart is said to be 1,000 fish, 

 chiefly pleuronectids. 



This memoir constitutes an admirable model 

 for future investigations and reports of its 

 kind. As an example of the harmonious com- 

 bination of the scientific and the economic, 

 the work will be welcomed by all persons inter- 

 ested in the preservation of one of the most 

 valuable resoiirees of the world. The most use- 

 ful purpose the work ought to subserve, how- 

 ever, aside from its local application, is the 

 demonstration (1) of the many diverse consid- 

 erations underlying the regulation and ad- 

 ministration of the fisheries, (2) of the neces- 



sity for scientific methods in the proper study 

 of economic problems, and (3) of the futility 

 of radical legislation affecting the fisheries 

 without competent biologic investigation. 

 Many fishery laws which have suppressed 

 or seriously disturbed established indus- 

 tries would never have been enacted had 

 the facts been known; and, on the other hand, 

 some languishing fisheries would be improved 

 and failing resources replenished if legislators 

 would heed the results of scientific investiga- 

 tion. H. M. Smith. 



Studies from the Chemical Laboratory of the 



Sheffield Scientific School. Edited by 



Horace L. Wells. Vol. I., pp. xi + 444; 



Vol. II., pp. ix+379. New York, Charles' 



Scribner's Sons. 1901. 



These volumes appear among the Yale Bi- 

 centennial Publications, issued 'as a partial 

 indication of the character of the studies in 

 which the university teachers are engaged.' 

 They furnish a continuous record of recent 

 progressive studies bearing directly upon 

 questions of prime importance at the present 

 time. Certainly they constitute a body of con- 

 tributions to knowledge highly honorable to 

 the university they represent. 



Volume I. opens with a very brief historical 

 account of the Sheffield Laboratory from the 

 beginning, then presents a bibliography of the 

 research publications of the present instructors 

 of the laboratory, and gives in 427 pages the 

 papers of the last ten years on 'General In- 

 organic Chemistry' and on 'Double Halogen 

 Salts.' Volume II. gives in 371 pages the pa- 

 pers of ten years upon 'Organic Chemistry.' 



Well known to chemical readers as these 

 papers have been, there is now much advantage 

 in having them all together in the order in 

 which the investigations have developed. The 

 chemists of the Sheifield Laboratory are to be 

 congratulated upon the prevailing unity and 

 continuity of their labors, extending through 

 so eventful a decade. 



The twenty-seven papers upon 'Double 

 Halogen Salts' appeared from 1892 to 1901. 

 Of all the known double halides classified by 

 Professor Wells it is stated that about one 

 third have been prepared in the Sheffield Labo- 



