THE CANADIAN SPORTSMAN AND NATUKAL1-I. 





advocated the protection of fish in every 

 possible way, as well as of assistance to those 

 engaged in artificial production. Jn Canada 

 this subject was of very great importance. I( 

 was now some years ago since artificial culture 

 was introduced by himself, with the recognition 

 of the Government, and now they stood second 

 to no other country with regard to it. The 

 number of Salmon they turned out annually 

 was not exceeded by any other country in the 

 world. During the last two years from thirty- 

 five to forty millions of Salmonidae had been 

 turned into the waters of Canada through the 

 artificial process, and, though there were no 

 doubt sceptics and others who were inimical 

 to the science of fish culture, he thought that 

 could only arise from ignorance of the benefits 

 to be derived from it. At first sight it seemed 

 extraordinary that fish could be produced by 

 artificial means; but it was a most simple 

 process when understood. Fish were so 

 prolific, that man with a little ingenuity could 

 produce from them far more than nature could 

 herself, because it was a well known fact that 

 large quantities of the eggs of the fish family 

 were destroyed by other species. This was 

 the ordained law ; it was intended that fish 

 should live on fish, because if all the eggs of 

 fish were permitted to hatch out, there would 

 be no room in the waters for them. Conse- 

 quently, nature had provided wisely that fish 

 should live on one another, and this being the 

 case, large numbers of ova must be consumed. 

 Under artificial culture, however, where the 

 egg was protected from its enemies, a larger 

 percentage could be brought to maturity than 

 by the natural process. Hence, if it could be 

 shown that 75 per cent, of the eggs could pro- 

 duce living fish, the system ought to be en- 

 couraged by all intelligent people. Sir. lames 

 Maitland had gone into the matter in a most 

 lucid and instructive manner, and there was 

 no doubt that when the paper was disseminated 

 it would do a vast amount of good. The only 

 difficulty that he saw was, that it did not 

 appear to go hand in hand with the ideas ot 

 some scientific gentlemen, who maintained 

 that protection was not necessary to some ot 

 our fish. He contended, however, that il an 

 intelligent country considered fish culture of 

 service at all, it should also adopt every pos- 

 sible mode of protecting the fish. It would be 

 no use' for a pisciculturist to trouble himself 

 to reproduce hsh in great numbers if the in- 

 telligence and legislation of the country did 

 not protect that which had been produced, and 



if every one were allowed t" fieb without any 

 control, li seemed to him, therefore, that it 

 behoved all who were interested in this matter 

 to join in every possible measure to enhance 

 the production of fish, either by natural 01 

 artificial means, and also to protect the fish 

 afterwards. Nearly every civilized country 

 possessed laws lor the purpose "f protecting 

 fish ; and when some gentlemen came forward 

 and said (hat fish could not be exterminated, 

 the consequence must be that all these pro- 

 tective laws were a mistake, and that every 

 one should be allowed to kill and eat a- lie 

 pleased. He maintained, on the other hand, 

 that it was the duty of the legislature "i every 

 intelligent country to suppress intemperance 

 of all kinds, not only in the matter of liquids, 

 but in killing fish ; and to pass judicious laws 

 for the benefit of mankind. If any law were 

 more judicious than another, it was that the 

 waters should be protected from the inordiuate 

 destruction ot man. in order that fish might be 

 produced in larger numbers, both as a luxury 

 for the rich and lor the benefit ol the poor. He 

 felt that he was treading on somewhat delicate 

 ground in giving expression to these senti- 

 ments, but as this was the first opportunity he 

 had had, he felt it his duty to express publicly 

 the strong conviction which he entertained on 

 this subject. 



Professor HuXLEY begged leave to second 

 the vote ot thanks which had been so well 

 moved by his friend Mr. AVilmot. Unfor- 

 tunately, he had not had an opportunity of 

 seeing Sir James Mankind's establishment at 

 Howietown, but he had frequently been fa- 

 voured by reading and hearing what he had 

 done, and thus had the means o\' knowing not 

 only the nature of his operations, but what 

 was to his mind the singularly precise and 

 accurate scientific spirit which he had brought 

 to his work, and it was the secret of the very 

 remarkable success he has obtained- In this 

 matter, as in all biological questions, the 

 secret of success lay in attention to minute 

 details, and that was really the moral ot' the 

 paper. You must, in the first place, be able 

 to comprehend precisely — which very lew 

 people did — the exceeding complexity of na- 

 tural conditions, and then you must know- 

 how to carry into practice all the precautions 

 necessary to meet the variation in those con- 

 ditions. He could not recommend anyone 

 who was endeavouring to acquaint himself 

 with natural history to take up a more useful 

 and valuable study than that of the manner in 



