of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 
299 
quently the yield of life was rich. From tliis de[)th the small species 
of Xantho tuber eulatiis, nearly all the specimens heavy with ova, was 
dragged. I do not know of it being obtained elsewhere in Scotland, 
although I have taken many of both the other species in Mull. 
The wealth of the West Coast in species, more than in numbers, was 
amply exemplified during this rough Juno voyage. There is here plentiful 
work for the naturalist for many years to come ; but although it is of 
more than common interest to examine and compare the possible differen- 
tiation that proceeds in these isolated lochs, we are forced to acknowledge 
that the viscid blue clay, that forms such an important part of the ocean 
bottom in the west, is not specially suited for carrying a great local fish 
fauna. This is largely dependent upon the pelagic fauna that is only 
abundant under certain conditions, and that brings the herring shoals in 
its train. The west, inside the Hebrides, is thus, to an extent, dependent 
upon the herring, and only when the herring are abundant are white fish 
equally plentiful and good. It is difficult to foresee the possibility of 
changing the ocean bottom, except in isolated patches by the creation of 
extensive mussel-beds. This certainly promises best for the commence- 
ment of any bold and rational attempt at the stimulation of a local fish 
fauna. The lists made are too incomplete for publication, until added to 
from other sources. 
