12 



Part III. — Shieenth Annical Report 



was erected, and the Magistrates and Council of Dunbar granted 

 the use of a creek at the mouth of the harbour there for the 

 purpose. It was, however, found subsequently that the enclosure 

 of this creek might endanger the safety of fishing boats making 

 for the harbour in stormy weather, and the Burgh Authorities 

 withdrew their consent. 



The alternative had then to be considered whether the fish- 

 hatching operations should be continued under the existing 

 unsatisfactory conditions, or abandoned altogether, or whether 

 another site should be chosen where a suitable tidal enclosure 

 could be constructed. It was decided to adopt the latter course, 

 and a site was selected in the Bay of Nigg, close to Aberdeen. The 

 Corporation of Aberdeen, to whom the ground belongs, courteously 

 granted a lease of the site to the Board at a nominal rent ; plans 

 were prepared by Mr. Bust, the City Architect, and the work is 

 now in progress. The tidal enclosure will consist of a concrete 

 tank ninety feet in length by thirty-five feet in breadth, and with 

 an average depth of seven and a half feet. It will be sunk in the 

 ground deep enough to allow it to be filled daily, if desired, by the 

 flow of the tide, the water being admitted through a twelve-inch 

 pipe. At the end of this season's hatching operations, the wooden 

 hatchery at Dunbar, with the apparatus, pumps, and plant, will be 

 removed to the Bay of Nigg. 



In deciding to remove the fish hatchery to Aberdeen it was also 

 deemed desirable to establish a marine laboratory at the same place, 

 so that the scientific staff might be concentrated at one station, and 

 the two branches of work carried on together under the supervision 

 of the Scientific Superintendent. In coming to this decision con- 

 sideration was given to the fact that special facilities exist at 

 Aberdeen for the prosecution of scientific fishery research. As the 

 chief fishing port in Scotland it possesses a large fleet of steam 

 fishing vessels, both trawlers and liners, as well as herring boats, 

 and opportunities will thus be afforded for the study of the life- 

 history of fishes and marine biology generally. At the same time, 

 chiefly by means of the 'Garland,' other investigations will be 

 carried on as heretofore in the Moray Firth and the Firth of 

 Clyde. 



Researches on the Development and Maturation of 

 THE Eggs of Fishes. 



In several of the preceding Eeports of the Board numerous 

 papers have been published dealing with the description of the 

 floating eggs of the food fishes and the development of the embryo. 

 It is now well established that the eggs of all the important edible 

 fishes, with the exception of the herring, are buoyant or pelagic ; 

 and may be carried considerable distances by the movement 

 of currents. In the present Report Dr. Wemyss Fulton, the 

 Scientific Superintendent, describes the growth and develop- 

 ment of the ovarian eggs of teleostean dshes, belonging both 

 to the pelagic and the demersal varieties, of which he gives a 

 summary, as follows: — 'The investigation deals mainly with the 

 ' lat^r stages in the ovation development of the teleostean ovum, 



