664 
MR. F. BALFOUR BROWNE ON A 
A biological examination of Lake Michigan and of Lake St. Clair 
undertaken by a party of biologists under the auspices of the 
Michigan Fish Commission, and a biological survey of Lake Erie 
undertaken by the United States Fish Commission are two more 
examples — and there are others — of the adoption of co-operation 
in working at the problem of bionomics with the ultimate object of 
improving the Fisheries. 
Now in this country fisheries, other than salmon, have up to the 
present, received very little attention, and coarse fish, such as Pike, 
Car}), Bream, Koach, &c., are not a staple food here as similar species 
are on the Continent, and in America. Angling, however, is largely 
on the increase, and the day may come when our coarse fish are 
reared in hatcheries with the same care and attention as is at 
present given to the SalmonidiB ; the work which we are under- 
taking may therefore later on be directly useful to the pisciculturist, 
but, apart from this possibility, it has I submit, a greater biological 
value, and the method of attacking the problem which commends 
itself to me is that adopted by the Biological Station of Illinois — 
with modifications. 
I propose to investigate the local distribution of living organisms 
in a district not too large, but that it may all be conveniently 
worked from the Sutton Broad Laboratory and yet large enough to 
be divided up into a number of sub-districts, the fauna and flora of 
which must be recorded. Now this is an immense scheme of work 
and one which cannot be carried out in a single season, nor yet by 
a single individual, and it is with a view to getting members of 
this Society to co-operate with me that I am laying the matter 
before you to-night. 
Now, I may say at once that I expect the result of our efforts 
in tabulating the species in these sub-districts will be summed up 
after perhaps several years’ work in the following words, words 
used with regard to the distribution of insects on the Illinois river 
and adjacent waters : — “ It is not too sweeping a statement to say 
that the full lists for each station of every species observed there 
. . . . do not conspicuously differ. On the other hand, 
variations in relative abundance of the forms at each station and 
of the total life of each, with the presence or absence of some 
prominent species or group of species, impart an individuality to 
each station.” 
