Matwal History of the Herring, 
Wednesday , 24itJi April 1861. — Alexander Bryson, Esq., President, in 
the Chair. 
The following gentlemen were balloted for, and elected non-resident 
members of the Society :— 
The Rev. George Gordon, LL.D., Manse of Birnie, Elgin ; Lieutenant- 
Colonel George Logan Home, K.L.H. and K.R.G., of Broom House and 
Edrom, Dunse. 
The usual Committees were appointed for special investigations duriug 
the summer. 
Memorial against Salmon Fisheries Act.'—Mv GEonn^E Logan, Con - 
vener of the Committee on Marine Zoology, read a memorial to the Lord 
Advocate; which had been prepared, praying for various alterations on 
his proposed Salmon Fisheries (Scotland) Act 1861, which, unless the 
prayer of the memorial was granted, would put a stop to a considerable 
part of the means used by the Committee in investigating marine zoology. 
The memorial was approved of, and powers were granted to the Com- 
mittee to use its best endeavours to get the prayer of the memorial 
carried into effect. 
The following donations to the Library were laid on the table, and 
thanks voted to the donors : — 
1. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Vol. X., 1859-60, 
and Part I. of Vol. XL — From the Society. 2. Proceedings of the Aca- 
demy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 1860. 3. A Notice of the 
Origin, Progress, and Present Condition of the Academy of Natural 
Sciences at Philadelphia. By W. S. W. Ruschenberger, M.D. 1860. 
— From the Society. 4. The Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society. 
No. 64, November 1860, Vol. XVL, Part IV., and No. 65, February 
1861, Vol. XVII., Part L— From the Society. 
The following Communications were read : — 
I. Some Statements in Cuvier's Natural History of Fishes,'^ as to the 
Herring f shown to he erroneous. By J. M. Mitchell, Esq. 
Mr J. H.Mitchell stated that he had observed several errors 
in some of the principal works on natural history as to the 
herring, which he might afterwards more fully discuss ; but 
in the meantime he would point out some erroneous state- 
ments in Baron Cuvier's " Histoire Naturelle des Poissons," 
edited by Professor Valenciennes. In the twentieth volume 
of the quarto edition, page 35, it is said, that in the northern 
seas, as far as the White Sea, all the individuals have an 
