ANNUAL MEETING. 
143 
it has recently been discovered on what the sex of the young 
depends. They are almost the only animals of which this can 
be said. So again in the case of eels. It was long ago 
mentioned by .\ristotle that nobody knew how or where eels 
bred, and certainly no one had ever seen, until in the last few 
years, the egg of the eel, or the young eel just emerged from the 
egg. It has now been shown, mainly by the researches of 
Grassi, that the history of the eel is in fact the reverse of that of 
the salmon. The salmon comes up into our rivers to breed, the 
eel goes down into the sea and breeds in water of great depth. 
All our ponds are rich in different species of rotatoria, the 
common rotifer itself being very abundant, and yet I believe up 
to the present time no male of the genera philodina, rotifer, 
calledina or admeta has yet been discovered. 
Many other similar instances might be mentioned, but I 
must not attempt to occupy your time by doing so. These few, 
however, suffice to show how many interesting problems in 
natural history yet remain to be solved. 
The adoption of the report was seconded by the Earl of 
Stamford, who said : I had the pleasure last year of saying a few 
words about a bit of legislation in which I was interested in 
regard to the protection of birds. I will just say a word or two 
on that point in seconding the adoption of the report. It was my 
happy duty to introduce a Bill into the House of Lords to make 
the lot of the professional bird-catcher a much harder one than 
it had been before. Unfortunately the Home Office and the 
public generally were not prepared to accept all the restrictive 
legislation sketched out in that Bill, but a certain number of the 
provisions went through and passed both Houses, and it certainly 
is a little more difficult time which the professional bird-catcher 
will have now. This shows how necessary it is to have public 
opinion at the back of the law, and therefore I welcome the clause 
in the report in regard to the future efforts of the Selborne Society 
in the delivering of lectures and essay-writing by children. 
Something may be done with adults by arousing their interest, 
but by far the most hopeful direction for our efforts lies in 
catching the young citizen, instructing him or her in the 
interesting study which surrounds us in beast and bird-life, and 
further by diffusing instruction as to the way in which that life 
may be protected. There is plenty of legislation for the purpose, 
but it needs backing up by intelligent public opinion. In this 
direction, in interesting the children of the country in what 
has been done and what may be done, lies our great hope. 
I have heard it said that the continent is a terrible example to 
us in regard to the neglect of bird-life. I was pleased to come 
upon a rather encouraging experience in France a few weeks ago. 
I had always had an idea that France is silent so far as birds are 
•concerned, since all of them had been used for the purposes of the 
table, and it was a very pleasant experience, therefore, in making 
an expedition over the battlefield of Cressy, to hear the larks, and 
