130 Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society. 
himself to the apparently mterminable task of deciphering and recording 
such a towering pile or indigest materials. 
The thanks of the Society were unanimously voted to Mr 
Murray for his services as President, and for his interesting 
and valuable address. 
The following Communications were then read : — 
1. Report of the Committee on Marine Zoology (ivith special reference to 
the presence of the Whitebait (Clupea alba) in the Firth of FortJi). By 
George Logan, Esq., W.S., Convener, 
Mr George Logan read a report from the Committee on 
Marine Zoology, which, after a detail of the general proceed- 
ings of the committee for the past season, stated that, in 
sweeping the beach near Seafield with a small Seine net, during 
the months of August and September, whitebait {Clupea 
alba) had been taken in considerable quantity ; that speci- 
mens so caught had been closely compared with the sprat or 
garvey (Clupea sprattus), and with the herring (Clupea 
harengus), and the distinctive markings coincided in every 
respect with those stated by Dr Parnell in his article on the 
Ichthyology of the Firth of Forth, published in the *' Maga- 
zine of Zoology and Botany" in 1837 ; and that, further, the 
assertion of Parnell was confirmed — correcting the statement 
of Yarrell to the contrary — that the tongue, and roof of the 
mouth of the whitebait are furnished with teeth. Specimens 
of the three species of Clupea were exhibited, and even a 
cursory view showed differences in their general appearance, 
although, scientifically speaking, such superficial character- 
istics are not to be depended upon in the absence of specific 
and abiding distinctions. The whitebait is much more silvery, 
has altogether a softer and more delicate appearance than the 
sprat and herring, and is much flatter or more depressed in 
the body. The sprat is fuller, rounder, and much deeper in 
the body, is not so silvery, and has not the same delicate 
appearance. The herring is much longer and thinner than 
either, has a longer head and a larger eye, and is still darker 
in colour than the sprat. The reporter concluded by sub- 
mitting to the Society that there needed be no further ques- 
