14 
Tart III. — Ninth Annual Beport 
on most of the grounds examined, and there were compara- 
tively few places where an ordinary beam-trawl could safely run 
for any time. Mr Smith points out that the whole fisheries of 
the West Coast, at least inside the Outer Hebrides, are dependent 
upon the herring, and that it seems useless to think of stocking 
these waters artificially until the conditions are such as to provide 
food for the young ; these conditions, being annual and meteoro- 
logical, cannot be calculated on. During the expedition some rare 
specimens were obtained, such as the red band-fish (Cepola ruhe- 
scens) and Balanoglossns, the specimen of the latter being the first 
obtained in Scottish seas. 
Additions to the Fauna of the Firth of Forth. — In his further 
paper on this subject Mr Scott describes thirty-one additional 
species of Crustacea, including forms parasitic upon fish, discovered 
last year in the Firth of Forth. Previous to 1887 about 120 
species of Crustacea had been recorded for the Forth ; whereas now 
there are, including those mentioned in the present paper, about 
370 species, besides several which are still undetermined. Mr 
Scott does not think this number can yet be considered as approxi- 
mately representative of the crustp.cean fauna of our estuary, and 
predicts that when the Firth of Forth becomes more thoroughly 
and systematically worked up, the number of Crustacea will be 
little, if at all, short of 500 species. 
5. The Development and Life-Histories of the Food and 
OTHER Fishes. 
The Development of the Plaice. — Dr J. H. Fullarton gives in the 
present Keport a preliminary account of the development of this 
important flat-fish. Mr Scott, while on board the * Southesk,' 
succeeded in fertilising a number of the eggs which were trans- 
mitted to the Dunbar Laboratory, where they were hatched and 
their development studied. The time which elapsed between 
fecundation and the hatching of the young fish from sixteen to 
eighteen days. Dr Fullarton describes the various stages from a 
period shortly after segmentation had begun up to the absorption 
of the yolk, and a number of these are represented in the three 
plates accompanying the paper. 
Observations on the Life- Histories and Development of the Food 
and other Fishes. — During the year a number of fishery investiga- 
tions were carried on by Professor M'Intosh, F.R.S., at St Andrews 
Marine Laboratory, some of the results of which are dealt with in 
the present volume. Few opportunities have hitherto been found 
for the examination of the ova of the brill or its development. 
While on board the * Southesk,' in April, Mr T. Scott fertilised a 
number of ripe eggs of the brill with turbot milt, no ripe male brill 
being available. Professor M'lntosh describes the eggs minutely, 
and also the various stages up to and after the hatching of the 
young hybrid. The ' Italian naturalist, Dr F. Ealfaele, who, on 
