Jan., 1890. 
THE MARINE BIOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION. 
7 
herring, etc., are also used, according to the season, and in 
case of scarcity of squid. A single line, 'or “ bulter,” carries 
some 1,666 hooks ; when squid are cheap it costs 3s. to bait 
one line ; when they are dear, £3 12s. If pilchards are used, 
when they are cheap the cost is 5s.; when dear, £2 10s. It 
is estimated that at Plymouth alone £4,500 are spent every 
year on bait. From these data it will be seen how important 
it is to procure bait in plenty. The supply, however, especially 
of squid, is very irregular, for it depends on the trawlers; if 
bad weather prevents them from going out, the long-line 
fishers have no bait; if calms prevent the trawlers getting 
back to port, the bait spoils and is of no use for fishing 
purposes. Hence the possibility of artificially breeding 
squid, or of preserving it in such a manner as not to be 
distasteful to the fish, is a question of high moment which 
it is very desirable should be settled. In connection with 
the latter part of the question it is interesting to learn that 
at the Marine Laboratory of St. Andrew’s University on the 
Scottish coast, experiment has shown that boro-glyceride 
can be used for preserving mussels without apparently impair¬ 
ing their usefulness as bait. 
The temperature, density, and chemical composition of 
sea-water all have a most important influence on the life of 
fish, especially during the development from the egg. Thus 
it seems probable that the eggs of certain fish—the mackerel 
for example—live and develop properly only if they float on 
the surface of the water ; if the densitv of the water is such 
that they sink, then they die. This being so, then, if the 
density of the sea of a given district had been lowered in any 
way, the spawn of that year might, to a great extent, be 
destroyed, entailing a scarcity of adults in some future year, 
which, on the other hand, might be prevented by artificial 
breeding of the fish. Thus, there is plenty of work to be 
done in determining the relation of the temperature, density, 
and composition of sea-water to the life conditions of impor¬ 
tant food-fishes. 
Enough, we hope, has now been said to show of what 
almost incalculable value in the solution of fishery questions 
is the application of scientific method and research. This is 
impossible except with the aid of marine laboratories like 
that at Plymouth, and their existence depends almost entirely 
on the support received from the general public. But while 
asking for their support, we would also impress on our 
readers the necessity of bearing in mind that it often 
takes a long time successfully to carry out investigations 
such as we have been describing, and therefore they must not 
