3° 



2nd December* 1902. 



Pkofhssor Redfern, M.D., F.R.C.S.L, in the Chair. 



RECENT FISHERY RESEARCH, 

 By Professor Gregg Wilson, D.Sc. 



{Abstract) 



Professor Wilson said the subject of sea fisheries ought to 

 be an interesting one to every member of a British audience. 

 He wanted to remind them that the British fisheries were 

 worth a great deal of money. They yielded the fishermen 

 something like ^10,000,000 a year. He was sorry a very small 

 part of that money was gained by Irish fishermen — some 

 ^"300,000 or ^"400,000. He ventured to hope that the fisheries 

 were worth a great deal more than ^*io,ooo,ooo to the con- 

 sumers. He wished to call their attention to the work done by 

 scientific men in recent years in connection with preserving 

 and improving the fisheries. 



First, he wanted them to grasp very firmly that their fish 

 area was a small one. The great bulk of the ocean was deeper 

 than 2,000 metres, or yards. For a long time it was believed 

 that there was no life in the deep seas, in the waters beyond 

 about 100 fathoms. One of the most prominent professors of 

 last century maintained that fact, but that idea was got rid off. 

 It was first really proved by the electric cables that had been 



