of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 
403 
on July 7th. Lobster eggs wore hatched in 1890 at the Fish Com- 
mission's Station at Wood's Holl as early as May 14th, but the 
bulk of the eggs are hatched under natural conditions in June. Mr 
Herrick states that the lobster does not breed annually. This is 
abundantly proved by the slow growth of the ovarian eggs, by the 
immature condition of the ovaries at the time when the young are 
hatched, and by the large percentage of non-egg-bearing females taken in 
winter and spring. 
The eggs laid in summer develop with comparative rapidity. Develop- 
ment is retarded in autumn, and comes nearly to a standstill in winter. 
After hatching a brood the lobster may moult. Lobsters 7 to 10 inches 
in length increase their length by 1 inch after the moult. It probably 
requires from six to eight weeks to produce after the moult a fairly 
hard shell which cannot be easily compressed between the thumb and 
finger. Mr Herrick states that at the time of hatching the young lobster 
moults, and the delicate moulted skin is cast olf with the egg-shell; 
and he points to the practical importance of this, since in artilicial 
hatching, large numbers die through inability to pass this moult. 
After six or seven days the second moult occurs. Young lobsters 
swim at the surface for six to eight weeks, when they are of a length 
of 13 to 16 millimetres (abo]^t i to |^ of an inch). They then disappear 
from the surface. Interesting observations were made as to the varia- 
tions in colour of the ovaries, ova, larvee, &c. In his second paper 
Mr Herrick gives a full account of the growth of the ovaries and 
ovarian eggs, structure of the testis, the phenomena of segmentation, &c. 
VIL GERMANY. 
Since 1866, when Prussia acquired a considerable stretch of coast on the 
North Sea, strenuous elSorts have been made by the German authorities 
to develop the sea fisheries. In 1870 the German Fishery Association 
was established under the direct patronage of the late Emperor Frederick, 
then Crown Prince, and in the same year the well-known Kiel Commission 
for the scientific investigation of the German seas was instituted. In 
1872 a Fishery Exhibition was held in Berlin, and another and much more 
important International Fishery Exhibition in 1880. Five years later the 
Department of Coast and Deep-Sea Fisheries was formed, to take 
cognisance of everything affecting the sea fisheries, to promote the appli- 
cation of science to fisheries, the establishment of marine stations, &c. 
The Government gives an annual grant of 100,000 marks for these pur- 
poses. In 1886 a Conference, under the auspices of the Department, 
was held at Bremerhaven, and Sea-Fishery Societies have been formed at 
Bremen, Hamburg, Emden, &c. Last year a Fishery Exhibition was held 
at Bremen, and also a Conference on fishery questions. On several 
occasions Commissioners have been sent on inquiries connected with the 
fisheries of foreign states ; and a number of scientific expeditions have been 
made in the Baltic and the North Sea, and valuable reports published. 
The practical result of all this activity is very obvious, when the 
statistics of even the past few years are compared. In Germany no 
regular detailed fishery statistics are yet collected ; but from a recent 
pamphlet on the work of the Department by the President,* it appears 
that while in 1886 the number of German fishing-boats prosecuting fishing 
in the ofF-shore waters of the North Sea was only 377, last year the 
* Die Thdtigkeit der SeHion fur ICusten und Eochseefischerei, seit ihrer Orundung 
(1885) bis zum Sommer, 1890 ; Erstattet von dem Vorsitzenden, Kloster-kammer- 
Prdsidenten Ilerwig, Berlin, 1891. 
