<>f the Fisluni Board fir Scotland 
320 
be determined ; if it is reared in captivity, artificial conditions are imposed, 
which may have the result quoted above, of producing fish three or four 
times smaller than others of the same age. And artificial influences 
probably affect the reproductive organ profoundly — since Darwin and 
others have shown that this organ is in the highest degree susceptible to 
such influences. Mr Cunningham has checked his results as far as 
possible by comparison with specimens taken from the sea. The common 
dab does not appear to breed during the first year. The mackerel, 
herring, sprat, and anchovy appear to reach sexual maturity when 
two years old. In the same journal, Mr Holt describes specimens of 
Cenfrolophus pompilius from the coast of Cornwall ; and Mr W. L. 
Calderwood gives the results of experiments on the relative abundance 
of anchovies olf the South Coast of England. Mr Calderwood also 
furnishes monthly reports on the fishings in the neighbourhood of Ply- 
mouth, and Mr H. N. Dickson reports on the physical observations. 
The Marine Biological Station of the Liverpool Marine Biology Com- 
mittee, of which Professor Herdman, F.R.S., is Director, was recently 
transferred to Port Erin, in the Isle of Man. Professor Herdman and 
his colleagues have practically exhausted by their labours the faunistic 
resources in the neighbourhood of Puffin Island, and it was decided to 
transfer the field of operations to comparatively virgin soil at a distance 
from the mainland. In the Fourth Annual Report,* Professor Herdman 
describes the investigations made in 1890. Lists of collections are given, 
and further observations on the protective colouring and edibility to fish 
of nudibranchs, and on the protective colouring of a crab (Porcellana 
platycheles), and a worm (Eulalia viridis). Mr F. G. Pearcey furnishes 
lists of the Foraminifera dredged in Liverpool Bay. Professor Herdman 
has a brief but interesting paper on shrimps. He circulated a set of 
inquiries among fishermen and others at various neighbouring places, with 
blank spaces to be filled up monthly as to the relative abundance, size, 
presence of immature forms, presence of eggs, &c, and the results are 
giveu in a table. Professor Herdman has also published recently! the 
biological results of the cruise of the ' Argo ' round the West Coast of 
Ireland last year. Lists of the organisms contained in the tow-nets, 
dredge, and trawl, are given, and also an account of the sponges by Dr 
Hanitsch. In the Fifth Annual Report the work done at Puffin Island is 
described. A list is given by Mr A. 0. Walker of species of Crustacea 
new to the district, including Nyctiphanes norvegica and many others. 
Professor Herdman gives some very interesting observations on the habits 
of the common limpet. The enquiries, referred to above, into the life- 
history and habits of the common shrimp have been continued, the results 
confirming those of the previous year. The food matters generally 
attributed to the shrimps are worms, dead fish, sweet cockles, 'stones 
'and shells, and finally "suction."' Their worst enemies appear to be 
crabs (Carcinus moenas and Polybius heneloioi) and fishes, especially 
whiting, young cod, haddock, small cod, skates, and flukes. In discussing 
the question of shrimp fishing, Professor Herdman refers to the capture 
and destruction of immature fish ; and he suggests the propriety of 
endeavouring to increase the supply of shrimps by artificial cultivation. 
Dr Hugh Robert Mill has recently published an elaborate and exhaustive 
report on the physical geography of the Clyde Sea Area,| an area which 
* Fourth Ann. Rep. Liverpool Marine Biol. Station on Puffin Island, Liverpool, 
1891. 
t Trans. Biol. Soc. of Liverpool, vol. v. p. 181. 
+ Trans. Roy. Soc. Edin., vol. xxxvi. part iii. No. 23, 1892, 
