130 Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society. 



himself to the apparently interminable task of deciphering and recording 

 such a towering pile or indigest materials. 



The thanks of the Society were unanimously voted to Mr 

 Murray for his services as President, and for his interesting 

 and valuable address. 



The following Communications were then read : — 



I. Report of the Committee on Marine Zoology {with special reference to 

 the presence of the Whitebait (Clupea alba) in the Firth of Forth). By 

 George Logan, Esq., W.S., Convener. 



Mr George Logan read a report from the Committee on 

 Marine Zoology, which, after a detail of the general proceed- 

 ings of the committee for the past season, stated that, in 

 sweeping the beach near Seafield with a small Seine net, during 

 the months of August and September, whitebait {Clupea 

 alba) had been taken in considerable quantity; that speci- 

 mens so caught had been closely compared with the sprat or 

 garvey (Clupea sprattus), and with the herring (Clupea 

 harengus), and the distinctive markings coincided in every 

 respect with those stated by Dr Parnell in his article on the 

 Ichthyology of the Firth of Forth, published in the " Maga- 

 zine of Zoology and Botany" in 1837 ; and that, further, the 

 assertion of Parnell was confirmed — correcting the statement 

 of Yarrell to the contrary — that the tongue, and roof of the 

 mouth of the whitebait are furnished with teeth. Specimens 

 of the three species of Clupea were exhibited, and even a 

 cursory view showed differences in their general appearance, 

 although, scientifically speaking, such superficial character- 

 istics are not to be depended upon in the absence of specific 

 and abiding distinctions. The whitebait is much more silvery, 

 has altogether a softer and more delicate appearance than the 

 sprat and herring, and is much flatter or more depressed in 

 the body. The sprat is fuller, rounder, and much deeper in 

 the body, is not so silvery, and has not the same delicate 

 appearance. The herring is much longer and thinner than 

 either, has a longer head and a larger eye, and is still darker 

 in colour than the sprat. The reporter concluded by sub- 

 mitting to the Society that there needed be no further ques- 



