260 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



Dabs, Plaice, and Lemon Dabs. There is, however, an element 

 of uncertainty in these fluctuations, which are well known to 

 fishermen considerably nearer home. The author, indeed, men- 

 tions that Henking, who had found similar fluctuations, is of 

 opinion that Plaice are caught in greatest abundance in winter. 

 At St. Andrews such has generally been the case, viz. in late 

 autumn and winter, whilst Dabs are mostly caught in summer 

 and Flukes in early spring. At any rate, the working season of 

 the fishermen at a particular fishing has to be considered, and it 

 would have been more satisfactory, as in 1884, to have had the 

 captures made under the observer's eye, and with all the circum- 

 stances before him. Consequently, it is doubtful how much 

 weight can be put on the assertion : "I believe that the dis- 

 covery of this principle or law of compensatory fluctuations, as 

 described in this paper, will materially assist in the explanation 

 of many points in the natural history of the food-fishes that are 

 at present obscure." 



It is further stated that the maxima of the captures in each 

 fish correspond to the spawning season, but that some have 

 two maxima and minima, the cones and curves of his illustrative 

 diagrams thus being complex, and the cones of the immature 

 may be in unison with those of the mature. No explanation, 

 however, is given of a remark that the " Witch " has a high 

 cone in winter and a small secondary cone in the warmer season 

 marking the spawning period. The same criticism applies to 

 some of the cones of the Plaice, neither corresponding to the 

 spawning season ; indeed, it is doubtful if much importance can 

 at present be attached to some of these cones. The author is of 

 opinion that congregation on the grounds and subsequent dis- 

 persal, or migration from one area to another, will explain his 

 curves, but as no steps were taken to ascertain their presence or 

 absence by other methods, this is conjectural. Moreover, he 

 observes that the scarcity of flat-fishes in the deeper water in 

 winter is due to their withdrawal to the coast, and hints that 

 the Moray Firth may be one of these areas of refuge. But 

 St. Andrews Bay and the region beyond are coastal areas, and no 

 support can be found there for such a view. A doubtful state- 

 ment, again, is that Dabs do not penetrate to the deeper water 

 at any period of the year. If by deeper water twenty to forty 



