NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. 119 



we read him we can always learn, and from him we may 

 safely quote. 



The Sea-Fishing Industry of England and Wales. By F. G. 



Aflalo, F.R.G.S., &c. Edward Stanford. 

 This is not only a good account of our sea-fishing industries, 

 but it is a volume of more than economic interest, for Mr. Aflalo 

 tells us much about the fishes of the British coasts, and gives 

 that information with no little charm in diction. Compared 

 with our knowledge of the habits of birds, how little we know of 

 the ways of fishes ! And yet, as our author tells us, " We have 

 our winter and summer fishes just as we have our winter and 

 summer birds ; and the Mackerel and Grey Mullet appear along 

 our south coast with the Swallow and the Martin, just as the 

 Cod and Whiting come later with the Wild Duck and the Wood- 

 cock." Then, again, how many unsolved problems appertain to 

 the piscine fauna ! " A good year for Pilchards is generally 

 followed by a bad year for Herrings. This alternation of seasons 

 has long been recognized at St. Ives, though no scientific expla- 

 nation has as yet been given." 



We scarcely realize the enormous quantity of fish delivered in 

 London alone. In 1903 the delivery at Billingsgate and Shad- 

 well markets was no less than 216,240 tons, and of this great 

 take 1298 tons were seized and condemned us unfit for food 

 being at the rate of 1 ton in 166'6, or a little over £ per cent. 

 The catches of Herrings which have of late years been landed at 

 Yarmouth run into figures that may well " stagger the ordinary 

 imagination." During the season of 1902 between five and six 

 hundred millions of Herrings were brought ashore at that port, 

 while in each of the years 1900 and 1901 the total reached two- 

 thirds of the amount. We could give many more extracts from 

 this book that would be equally astonishing to many naturalists 

 who have confined their studies and observations to the fauna of 

 the land, and sometimes care too little for the creatures of the 

 sea ; but we can advise the perusal of Mr. Analo's volume by all 

 those who would know some details of a great national industry, 

 and at the same time learn something of the habits of the fishes 

 that make it possible. There are many instructive and inter- 

 esting illustrations. 



