The general condition of the Laboratory since the date of my report in the last number of the Journal calls for little mention. Some slight repointing of the walls and glazing has been necessary to keep out the winter rains, and the overhaul of one of the gas engines deemed desirable for the proper continuation of pumping without loss of gas. In other respects the entire building continues to render every satisfaction.

The work done by the various members of the Staff will be most readily estimated by the perusal of the several papers written by the members, and need not be mentioned in detail by me.

In my last report I made mention of the fishery investigations to be carried on by Mr. Holt in the North Sea, stating that in this Journal I would probably be in a position to state upon what lines the observations had been begun.

Since the issue of last number, another Fishery Conference has been held at Fishmongers’ Hall under the auspices of the National Sea Fisheries Protection Association. At this conference the capture and sale of undersized fish was again under discussion, and again a resolution was passed defining, to the satisfaction of most of those present, the sizes below which soles, plaice, turbot, &c., should not be captured and sold. The discussion, as well as the resolution, proved abundantly to anyone at all acquainted with the sizes at which the various food fishes first spawn, that the sizes were arrived at purely with a view to keeping undersized fish out of the market, and without any reference to the maturity or immaturity of these fish.

Last autumn the occurrence of a small Siphonophore in the produce of the surface tow-nets attracted my attention. I first noticed it in the contents of a small net, worked five miles south of the Eddystone, on September 12th, and afterwards it was obtained in great abundance close to the. Plymouth Breakwater, and even inside the Sound. It was brought in numbers to the Laboratory almost every day up to about the middle of October, but after the end of that month it was not seen again.

The reasons which induced the Association to undertake this work, and the nature of the investigations proposed to be carried out, will be familiar to readers of this Journal (see vol. ii, No. 2, p. 88), and need not be here recapitulated. I shall, therefore, confine myself to a brief account of such progress nshas already been made.

Grimsby was selected as head-quarters, as being the port from which the largest number of boats work, and, in fact, the head-quarters of the North Sea Trawling Industry. A local body, the Marine Fisheries Society, has for the last few years been carrying on work in Grimsby, principally in connection with the culture of sea fish, and for that purpose has erected an aquarium or hatchery at Cleethorpes, a small watering-place and fishing village on the outskirts of the town. It was felt that it would be of great advantage if the Association could secure the co-operation and assistance of this Society, and communications accordingly passed between the Director and Mr. 0. T. Olsen, Secretary of the Society and also a member of the Association, and to whose energy and enthusiasm the foundation and subsequent success of the Society are in great measure due. As a result the Society at once promised every assistance in their power, and furthermore placed their premises at Oleethorpes at my disposal for such work as could be most conveniently carried on there. The hatchery contains glass and slate tanks of various sizes, with apparatus for circulating the water, and its reservoir is connected with the sea pump of the adjacent public baths, so that direct communication with the Humber can be established at any time.

Since the publication of the last paper a number of experiments have been made in connection with the Bait question. The object aimed at was to obtain some material which would serve as a medium for the application of some or other of the extracts prepared by the methods given in the previous report. A number of common substances were tried without success. The majority were either not sufficiently porous, or, if possessing that qualification, they lacked that strength and toughness which is absolutely necessary in a bait which must lie in the water for some hours.

It is this length of time which renders such materials as sponge, however fine, quite useless, since no extract, even if very much thickened, will remain in a piece of sponge more than a few minutes. Mr. Bateson in his report on this subject suggested the use of China clay; I tried a number of experiments with this, both dried and soft. In the latter case disintegration occurred at once, and the dried clay did not absorb sufficient extract to render it attractive; besides this, fish always reject any hard substance, even if it be made attractive with the smell of a favourite food. A somewhat promising material was obtained by boiling down skate skins until they were quite soft, and pressing them into blocks. The large amount of gelatine in these skins caused the fibres to adhere, forming a compact mass. This was somewhat porous and elastic, and took up a considerable amount of extract, but, like a number of other gelatine preparations, would not withstand the prolonged action of the water.

The following paper is to be regarded as the sequel of that published in the preceding number of this Journal, on the rate of growth and distribution of young marine fishes. I am still continuing inquiries of this character, and have now to record the additional results obtained up to the end of March, 1892. I have also described and criticised some of the results of other workers in the same field.

On the 24th June, 1891, a mackerel boat, which had been fishing off the Runnistone, brought in several fish of the above species. They excited a good deal Of interest among the local fishermen, to whom they were quite unknown. A coastguardsman, who had seen them abroad, I forget where, declared them to be “pilot-fish,” a diagnosis with which some of the fishermen, to whom the true pilot-fish, Naucrates ductor, appeared to be known, could by no means agree. It appears, however, that from a certain similarity of habits the name is occasionally applied to the form before us, usually known to British naturalists as the black-fish.

By a resolution of the Council of the Association, passed on the 25th March, 1891, it was determined to proceed as speedily as possible with the inquiry into the relative abundance of anchovies on the south coast of England.

The unusually severe weather of the last eight months has made it impossible to continue the observations in the Channel with any degree of regularity; only two trips have been made since that in June, of which a preliminary report was published in the last number of the Journal. The first of these, in November, included station VIII of the previous cruise, off the Bill of Portland in mid-channel, and the previous stations XIII and XIV, in Start Bay, also station I off Bolt Head. Besides these, soundings were taken at an additional station in mid-channel, south of Start Bay, and at four points in Start Bay itself, near land. The cruise was unfortunately interrupted by a gale which necessitated taking shelter for thirty-six hours in Portland Roads.

The observations given below are by Mr. William Roach (Series I), Associate Member M. B. A., and by Mr. H. Roach (Series II), the fishennan of the Association. The observations are taken partly in Plymouth Sound and partly on the fishing grounds a few miles to the eastward. A careful comparison of the two sets during the same periods does not show any local differences, and as the observations are true sea temperatures throughout, it is unnecessary to state the positions more definitely.

Iintroductory Statement

In these reports I shall not take into consideration the mMBIr methods of fishing which are practised in the locality, such, for instance, as eel spearing, mullet trapping, shrimp and prawn fishing, but shall confine myself to the most important branches, in which the beam trawl, drift and seine nets, and long lines are employed, and I shall also include crab and lobster fishing.

With reference to the class of boats employed in this neighbourhood, the trawlers, compared to those of the North Sea, are not of large size. The average boat is about forty-three tons. They are usually rigged as ketches (dandy-rig), but the smaller ones sometimes as cutters. The dandy-rig is preferred because with it there is not the very large mainsail and heavy boom of the cutter, and also because, like the yawl, where the mizzen mast is stepped behind instead of before the stern-post, the vessel can be more easily brought under easy canvas in heavy weather. These vessels only carry four men and a boy as crew, and therefore the question of ease in handling becomes one of great importance. Steam trawling is not practised from Plymouth, nor do the sailing trawlers fish in the “fleeting” system common in the North Sea, where many boats belong to one company and remain on the fishing grounds it may be for weeks, while their fish is carried to market by special steamers.

At Plymouth each trawler is worked independently, goes out to the fishing grounds east of the Eddystone, Mounts Bay, or Bristol Channel, and returns with its catch.

TheBulletin of the United States Fish Commission for 1889 contains a report upon a physical investigation of the waters off the southern coast of New England in the schooner Grampus during the summer of 1889, by Professor W. Libbey of Princeton College. This forms the first instalment of a series which promises to throw much light on the relations of temperature and salinity to the distribution of fishes and their food, and was itself directly suggested by researches upon the shad and the menhaden.

The observations cover the area between lat. 39° N. and lat. 41° 10′ N., and long. 70° W. to long. 71° 30′ W., soundings being obtained as nearly as possible every 10′ along lines 10′ apart. At each station a very complete series of temperature observations was made, and samples were collected at surface, bottom, and in the deeper soundings at an intermediate point. The specific gravities of these samples were determined by means of a Kilgard salMBImeter.

The temperature profiles along meridians of longitude are of great interest, extending as they do from near the coast over the edge of the continental plateau into deep water. The bathy-isothermal line of 50° F. shows a remarkable curvature off the continental platform, which the report says “would seem to point to a mechanical intrusion of cold water from the surface of the continental platform.” The conclusion is confirmed by the specific gravity observations; and the report goes on to say, “The existence of this body of warm water off the continental edge may offer an explanation of the richness of this particular spot in all forms of marine life, as shown by the successful dredging of the Albatross upon it.”