SELBORNIANA 
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mill-dams, weirs, and other impediments in nearly every river in 
the kingdom. Manorial accounts of this period show the bailiff 
of the manor stating that he does not answer for the rent of the 
mill or the rent of the fishing weirs, because they have been 
wholly destroyed by the order of the Commissioners of Sewers, 
and in a few years there appears upon the accounts an enormous 
increase in the profit of salmon.” The rivers indeed so teemed 
with salmon that the people of the country side forsook their 
proper labours for fishing, and came armed so that no one might 
drive them away. In time, however, new dams, mills, and other 
impediments were built and the profits of the fisheries decreased. 
Under the Thames Navigation Acts of 1788, 1795, and 1812 
the progress of the “ canalization ” of the river was rapid. 
Locks were built, or new cuts were made, and when a new 
cut was made the old stream was effectually blocked by a high 
solid weir which, except in flood times, must have totally 
stopped the passage of the fish. The take rapidly decreased 
from 1804, and the last salmon caught was in 1823, near Monkey 
Island. It would seem then that salmon disappeared from the 
river long before the period of greatest pollution (the date of 
which is put at 1850 — 60). The almost certain cause was ob- 
struction by the new pound locks and weirs. The filthier state 
of the water later on would, no doubt, have been sufficient to 
stop the passage of the salmon. Mr. F. Buckland’s experiments 
in restocking the Thames seem to have been immediately 
checked by pollution. The most deadly ingredient in London 
water was probably the refuse from gas works. Gas companies 
now dispose otherwise of their non-commercial products, and 
the London County Council’s efforts to purify the tidal waters 
of the Thames have had a very sensible result in the reappear- 
ance of the smelt at Richmond. The time seems to have 
arrived when a practical experiment might be made of the 
present quality of the tidal waters by hatching eggs in the river. 
Then, if Thames-bred smolt should be seen as grilse leaping 
at Richmond Lock, one important part of the question would 
be answered, and immediately means might be sought of open- 
ing, or making, the needed passes to the upper waters. The 
subject was mentioned at the meeting of the London County 
Council on December 21, and will be considered by the Rivers 
Committee. 
The New Forest.— A Bill affecting the New Forest is now 
under consideration. It is proposed to empower the Commis- 
sioners of Woods and Forests to sell pieces of land in the Forest 
for various public or semi-public purposes, such as sewage works, 
recreation grounds, hospitals and schools. No piece of land so 
sold is to be more than 25 acres in extent, and the whole amount 
is limited to 500 acres. This may not seem very much out of the 
63,000 acres of forest land, but nibbling often creates an appe- 
tite, and there are other considerations. No attempt ought to 
