of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



359 



was very poor, some having no fish, and others only a dozen or two. It 

 was noticed, however, that on a line supplied with the preserved bait 

 were several dabs, fishes considered somewhat particular in regard to the 

 freshness of the bait. 



The stormy weather at the end of January was somewhat trying to the 

 bait on shore, and one of the men (J. Gourlay), who had two baskets of 

 mussels — brought from Eden eleven days previously — had them treated 

 with boro-glyceride as above-mentioned on the 28th January. They were 

 fished with on the 3rd February, the hooks being baited alternately with 

 mussels and spout-fishes. Four lines were baited with preserved mussels, 

 and one with fresh mussels, and, so far as could be observed, there was no 

 difference in regard to the capture of fishes. From his five lines he 

 obtained three boxes. Another boat with six lines had four boxes, while 

 a third with the same number (six) had only three boxes. 



Besides the mussels, several haddocks and herrings were similarly 

 treated with the boro-glyceride for a period of about twenty-six hours, a 

 slit being made into the abdominal cavity, and, in addition, the fluid was 

 injected into the alimentary canal. The results showed that the herrings 

 could easily be hept about a month in a condition suitable for bait, while 

 the haddocks resisted putrefaction till they dried. 



The next experiment with the mussels was performed on 14th July, 

 when they were removed from their shells and treated with boro-glyceride 

 as before. At the end of the fourth day a slight alteration was noticed, 

 and on the fifth some were tried on a fishing line. These were found to 

 be as satisfactory as fresh bait in regard to the capture of fishes. At the 

 end of a week a considerable change had occurred, and when tested on 

 the fishing ground these hooks secured but a third those supplied with 

 fresh bait did. They evidently had been kept too long, or perhaps the 

 sjlution might have been stronger. 



The appearance of the mussels in all these experiments was most satis- 

 factory, and there is no doubt this method will enable fishermen to pre- 

 serve their bait several weeks in winter, and three or four times as long as 

 formerly in summer, for in warm weather the bait cannot be kept twenty- 

 four hours, generally being out of condition after twelve hours. The only 

 obstacle at present is the cost of the boro-glyceride (2s. 6d. for about 

 8 oz.), but there is no reason why a very much cheaper preparation should 

 not at once be issued for the purposes just mentioned. Such would be 

 extensively used by the fishermen. 



Published Papers, &o. 



During the year various papers besides those named have been com- 

 municated to the British Association and the Annals of Natural History, 

 e.g., 'On a Male Tunny,' 'On the British Weevers, the Bib, and the Poor 

 Cod,' ' Additional Remarks on the Internal Aspect of the Tunny, ' On the 

 Paternal Instincts of the Lump-Sucker,' 'On the very young Cod and 

 other Food-Fishes.' Mr E. E. Prince has also published the following : — 

 ' Early Stages in the Development of Food-Fishes,' ' On Oleaginous 

 Spheres in the Yolk of Teleostean Ova,' ' On the Development of the 

 Pectoral Fins in Teleosteans.' The main work of the year, however, has 

 been the larger paper on the Development of the Food-Fishes formerly 

 noted, though various interesting additions have also been made to the 

 zoology of invertebrates, such as a remarkable abnormality in a jelly-fish, 

 the occurrence of a pelagic shrimp new to Britain in numbers so vast as 

 to have an important influence on the food of fishes, and various observa- 



