378 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
are taken into careful consideration ? It is but a slender argu- 
ment, for example, to point to the statistical diminution of the 
Plaice in a single rich bay within recent years—without taking 
cognisance of the fact that in the first brush of uninterrupted 
fishing, or in the first use of nets, the men used all their 
energies and every art to capture, whereas, recently, they follow 
less hardy and less strenuous pursuits —in addition to casual 
fishing. Some indeed hold that crofting and fishing are incom- 
patible with success in either, and there may be a basis of truth 
in this view. At any rate, it is not reasonable to point to 
reduction in captures without an inquiry into the persistence of 
methods. Fishing needs all the time and all the energies of 
those fine hardy men in whom every one takes a deep interest ; 
but successful fishing needs likewise freedom from pernicious 
agitation and the fomenting of class prejudices. 
In connection with the supposed diminution, notice on the 
present occasion can only be taken of the Plaice, which for years 
has been a source of frequent complaint and solicitude. There 
is no doubt that a limited area by constant fishing may be 
denuded of many of its large Plaice, but this does not mean the 
serious diminution of the species, for it is so widely dispersed 
over the North Sea as to be most favourably placed for survival. 
The gaps made by the removal of the large forms are by-and-by 
filled by the smaller forms, which on almost every sandy beach 
swarm in vast multitudes. So long as this continues there is 
little danger for the Plaice. Besides, it is well to remember 
that Nature is able to supply the whole of the Common Kels of 
the western border of Europe and of the Mediterranean from 
eges shed in the middle of the Atlantic, as Dr. Schmidt has so 
graphically told. Compared with this remarkable condition, 
what difficulty is there in maintaining a species scattered all over 
the North Sea, and which also spawns so near our shores, and 
the eggs, larve, and young of which are in countless multitudes 
on every suitable site? Further, as if to emphasize the lesson, 
the vast destruction of young Soles which daily takes place by 
the shrimpers in the estuary of the Thames, and which has taken 
place for hundreds of years, has not extirpated the adults in 
that locality. There is, therefore, reason to believe that the 
* Vide ‘ Nature,’ August 22nd, 1912, and various Danish journals. 
