The Permanence of Continents and Oceans. I CAN find no flaw in the reasoning on the dynamical queson of the permanence of continents and oceans, in Mr. Starkie ariner's letter in NATURE of December 5 (p. 103), by which be endeavours to show the universal "tendency for deep oceans to become deeper, and for mountain chains to grow into higher Leaks." But when he says it is opposed to no known facts, I wish to ask how it is to be reconciled with the fact of the general distribution of marine deposits over the face of the earth, so that every part of what is now land appears to have nice been ocean?

I fully concede that the change of ocean spaces into land spaces is an extremely slow process, taking, probably, millions of years, but it seems to me that it must have occurred, though I cannot suggest through what agency. Bellat, December 14. JOSEPH JOHN MURPHY.

Does the Bulk of Ocean Water Increase? ME. JUKE-BROWNE (NATURE, December 12, p. 130) admits 'heat' if the area of the land were larger, and the depth of the ceans less," in early geological times, a further inference must be

drawn that the bulk of the ocean water was less then than it is

I W

So far we are in agreement; indeed, we could scarcely be herwise, as the proposition admits of complete demonstration. When, however, Mr. Jukes-Browne proceeds to give his reasons for holding that the bulk of ocean water was less in early times than now, he enters upon a more controversial subject.

I am familiar with the arguments he urges partly on the authority of Mr. Fisher, and have to some extent discussed them in chapter xii. of the "Origin of Mountain Ranges." I desire, however, to point out a further objection that when stated will, I think, appear extremely obvious.

According to Dr. George Darwin and many other astronomers who follow him, our satellite, the moon, was once an integral ortion of the earth, having been thrown off when the earth was 1 molten condition. If this theory be correct, it is a fair assonation that the magma out of which the moon has consolidated was composed of matter similar to that of our earth. Even if eir relations were never so intimate as this, I think most phrodists and astronomers will admit a similarity of material astration of the two spheres.

If then volcanic action on the earth is, as Mr. Jukes-Browne Catents, accompanied by a separation of water initially conained in the magma, and its condensation on the surface in such quantities as to materially increase the bulk of ocean water, why has not the same effect followed volcanic action on the moon? Why, in fact, do we not see oceans on the surface of the moon tead of a dry and desert waste of volcanic rings, mountain pm tuberances, and arid plains? In face of this great fact it apsary to me that ingenious arguments as to the amount of water ontained in the fluidal cavities of granite, which most geologists ink is explicable by percolation, have not much weight.

At all events, it seems a reasonable question to ask why tan should be supplied with water from the perspiring pores of another earth, while her offspring, the moon, is so dry as to ave absorbed into herself all evidence of any aqueous envelope thai may have formerly existed. T. MELLARD READE,

Park Corner, Blundellsands, December 14.

A Natural Evidence of High Thermal Conductivity in Flints.

A RATHER curious effect of the recent frost attracted my attention in the gravel foot-paths leading over Addington Hill,

near Croydon, on the beautifully bright day of the 1st inst. The clear nights and frosty air of the closing week of last month had been productive of continued low temperatures in that locality, and the result observed was that the flint pebbles, which in neighbouring gravel-beds and here and there on the paths, are of the size of hens' eggs, and remarkably well rounded, had, in places, sunk in the frozen clunch or clay-earth of the foot-paths, and in the peaty ground or turf beside the paths, as it appeared, like filberts shrunk and resting at the bottoms of their shells; or else as if the pebbles' earthy moulds had, by expanding upwards, left such a large vacuity above each stone, that the tops of some of the large ones, instead of being level (as at first they must have been, by the appearance of the moulds) with the surface of the ground, were now, in a somewhat turfy place, about as much as half an inch below it. The physical enigma which hereupon offered itself for elucidation was, how the pebbles could remain at the much lower level, while such a considerable expansion upwards had been brought about by freezing in the moist earth immediately surrounding them; and this problem had certainly, in looking at the thickly-clustered cavities in the frozen ground, at first a very paradoxical appear

ance.

But if the question how the inclosing cavities of moist earth round flint pebbles which are nearly embedded in it, are distended upwards so curiously by a strong frost's predominance, has presented, it may be, to some of your readers who may have noticed in similar conditions a similar appearance, as it at first did to me, a subject for rather puzzled contemplation and conjectures, it will be worth pointing out, perhaps, that there is a well-ascertained thermal property of siliceous rocks and flint, of which it seems not improbable that this not unfrequently occurring action of a strong frost, in such conditions, may really be an interesting illustration.

Among a series of about a hundred different descriptions and varieties of commonly occurring rocks whose thermal conductivities were experimentally determined by a Committee of the British Association in the years 1874-78, it was found that such entirely siliceous ones as quartz, flint, and pure siliceous sandstone, &c., so much surpass all other ordinary rocks in their rates of transmitting both heat and temperature, that in flint pebbles these conducting powers are, for example, about four or five times as great as in damp sandy mould, or in wet clayey

earth.

Instead of the layers of cold temperature, therefore, produced in wet pebbly ground by continued frosty winds and radiation, proceeding in plane levels downwards from one depth below the surface to another, large flints exposed in it must grow cold very quickly through their whole substance, and must freeze the wet earth under them almost as soon as the soil's surface-layer round them is beginning to be frozen. The effect of this freezing process's expansion, it seems evident, will hardly be so much to raise the pebbles and the earth's exposed surface upwards very differently from each other, by the frost's nearly equal action on them both, as, during the frost's continuance, to force up towards the surface a large superfluity of soft earth from between the bedded stones, carrying the cast or mould of the stone's upper sides, itself to some height above them. We would require, perhaps, as an aid to this interpretation of the process, to regard the congelation round the stones, as rooting them down, perhaps to lower-lying ones, so that the upward thrust of the extruded earth may not be able to dislodge them, but can be effective to raise up their frozen caps; but some such supposition as this does not appear to be a very impossible conjecture. By this recourse to the pre-eminent thermal conductivity of flints above that of moist turf and clay, in which they are embedded, it seems at least not impracticable to give a somewhat intelligible explanation of the frozen ground's abnormal elevation round them, lifting the moulded caps of earth-covering off their upper sides until their roadside clusters present the curious appearance of shrunken petrifactions of some nest of fossil yolks in halfempty egg shells.

It is, indeed, true that when by long continuance of a frost the sodden earth may have become entirely penetrated and frozen by it to some considerable and tolerably even depth (we may suppose) below a layer of embedded flints, it should be noticed, to simplify the process's consideration, that the form which the frozen ground will then have acquired between and round the flints could be nowise affected in the end by any various shapes, plane or contorted by irregularly formed and differently conducting solid bodies in its course, wherewith the tract of

reezing temperature after entering the ground approaches by stages of quick or slow rates, in different parts, towards the supposed nearly even depth at last, if we might only presuppose that, because of the endless material obstruction to its motion in any horizontal direction, no channels for the earth's lateral expansion in freezing should subsist; but that in all places and in all conditions where the freezing happens, the only line of escape of the earth's increase of volume should be vertically upwards towards a direction where no insuperable forces are, at least, opposed to it.

Were this assumption of upward reliefs only of all of the expansions a really true and valid one, every vertical fibre of the wet earth's mass would behave in freezing quite independently of every other one, and would take up its fully expanded length at last, no matter at what times and in what order congealing overtook its individual portions. A stone, in this supposition, just embedded in the ground, would have its lower half lifted at last in its socket, and the upper half of the socket lifted off the stone (whether its thermal conductivity is great or small), to the height, in either case, of a water-column's change of length by freezing, whose initial height is but half the vertically measured thickness of the round embedded stone-that is to say, about one-eleventh of an inch for a stone 2 inches in diameter, instead of nearly half an inch, which was about the depth of the settlement, in some of the large-sized flint stones, which was actually observed.

On

To return to the reality, however, from this artificial supposition, the actual course of the expansions, and the effects produced by the freezing dilatations must, no doubt, be very different. Supposing that the flint-stones, by their good thermal conductivities, soon become covered with a thickening coat of frozen earth, flow of the soft, unfrozen earth between them will really spring up and be maintained by direct outward expansions from the stones of the icy coats surrounding them. account of the firm rigidity of the exposed earth-surface, to which the stones themselves must soon become fast fixed, the resultant flow of soft earth from between the stones, instead of finding an upward path the easiest, will rather choose a vertically downward one for its escape from its confinement, and lift the stones and icy covering together, rather than seek by an upward course to break through the latter. Yet this last effect may also perhaps occur to some extent, raising the frozen earth-caps in some measure off the stones' upper sides, and stretching them, it may be, a little upwards, so as to leave between them and the stones clear empty spaces. That this last effect must be only a secondary and inconspicuous one, however, seems to be pretty obvious from this passingly essayed, and as it now appears all too uselessly pursued and desultory aperçu of the frost's real mode and process of expansive action. Regarding the peculiar structures, in fact, altogether from another point of view, and rejecting the imperfect explanation which any one of these presumed congelation processes might at first have been supposed to furnish, of the curiously sunken-looking assemblages of the wayside pebbles, an exactly opposite interpretation of their semi-interred condition seems, perhaps, indeed, to afford a more satisfactory and likely explanation of it, than the expansive effects of frost in the moist earth were ascertained and shown to have any capabilities and physical resources for. The warmth of the sun, or of wind and rain in some thawing daytime temperature of the generally frosty week, may in short be supposed (which the weather-table of the week, on the 26th and 27th ult. confirms) quite plainly and certainly enough, in consequence of the flints' good thermal conductivities, to have melted and shrunk again to its natural dimensions the hard frozen earth under them, without lowering the level equally of the badly conducting frozen earth surrounding them. Alternate days of thaw and nights of frost would, by progressive stages which can be easily traced out and understood, tend quite naturally to exaggerate this difference. Thus in another way, but complementary to and at returning times just fitly supplemented by that first supposed, the problem which the winter scene presented is, still more simply and clearly than before, seen to be solved quite truly and correctly by the relatively high thermal conductivity of the rounded flints as compared with that of the hard frozen earth in which they are enveloped.

This gradual subsidence, therefore, of flint stones during alternate frosts and thaws, into frozen earth, by consolidation and lateral expansion, followed by liquefaction and vertical contraction of the water in the earth beneath them, is, it would seem that we may reckon it accordingly, a phenomenon on land

just analogous and similar to the familiar thermal process which small stones scattered on a smooth frozen glacier-field display in summer-time, by intercepting the heat of the sun's rays, and by sinking to the bottom of the deep water-holes which they thu scoop and delve out for themselves, wherever they happen to have found a lodgment in the naked ice. A. S. HERSCHEL

Observatory House, Slough, December 9.

Foreign Substances attached to Crabs.

These

AT the last meeting of the Linnean Society I exhibited a number of crabs and certain shells of the genus Phorus having various foreign substances attached to them, about which it is desn able that more should be known. Some of the crabs manage .. fasten bits of sea-weed to the hairs on the carapace and legs: Polyzoa, Balani, Serpulæ, &c., in their earlier stages fasten themselves on others; a crab of the Indian Seas-Camposcia retu z -is sometimes completely covered on every part with sand small shells, and bits of sea-weed-Corallina chiefly. could only be attached by some adhesive matter, but when z derived? Dromia vulgaris is occasionally found with a sponge extending over the carapace and almost completely hiding the animal. The species of this genus have the two hinder pairs of legs much reduced, flattened, and lying close to the back, and this is assumed to be an adaptation for the purpose of retaining the sponge. Out of a number of specimens dredged in the Bay of Naples, I recollect only getting one with a sponge on it, ani that very soon shrivelled up, leaving a leathery-looking substance attached to the base of the carapace, not held by the leg apparently. Two crabs-Ethusa mascarone and Dorisse lanata-having similarly reduced hind-legs, but directed upwards, seem much better adapted for retaining a foreign substance, which, however, they are not known to do. In a Mauritian crab -Dynomene hispida-the hind pair only are reduced, but wo such an extent as to be merely rudimentary and incapable of any use. Paramithrax barbutus—a New Zealand crab-has, like some others, hooked hairs, but in the specimen exhibited they appear to be free of any foreign substances, although many small trag. ments of an uncertain nature appear between them.

In Phorus a strong cement only could hold on those large ani heavy substances-shells, stones, &c.—completely covering the shell, as in P. agglutinans. I have not seen any account of their modus operandi, but, as the animals have a long proboscis, is possible that that may be the organ employed, but it is diffcult to believe that it would be able to lift any large substance. or that it could reach the top of the shell. Another difficulty is that they must cast off, from time to time as they grow, the smaller substances, to replace them by larger ones. There is one Phorus, however-P. calyculatus-in which small shells imbed themselves at short intervals along the whorls, leaving the greater part of the shell uncovered; these little cup shaped depressions are marked inside, as far as the mouth of the shell will permit them to be seen, by corresponding protuberances. This would seem to indicate a certain softening of the shell at une time or other.

I do not see where protection comes in, in any of these cases.
December 14.
FRANCIS P. PASCOL

A Marine Millipede.

IN the hopes of arousing the interest and the energies of British entomological collectors, "D. W. T.," in a short notice on p. 104 of the present volume of NATURE, draws attention to the recent discovery in Jersey, by Mr. Sinel, of that remarkable marine centipede Geophilus (Schendyla) submarinus (not su maritimus by the way), of Grube.

Those who observed this notice, and are interested in the fauna of Great Britain, may be glad to hear in addition tha! more than twenty years ago a number of specimens of this then undescribed species were taken by Mr. Laughrin at Polperro oft the south coast of Cornwall. These specimens, which were presented to the British Museum in 1868, were found associate. with Linotenia maritima (Leach)—also a marine centipede

Bell, in his "British Crustacea (p. 371), states having received numerous young specimens from Sicily, every one of which had the care pace entirely covered with a sponge, which had grown over it, coacting, even the two hinder pairs of legs, which were closely placed against the and rendered immovable." No mention is made of a sponge on those the came from the Channel.

kingdom is divided, and illustrating the terms used in describing these modifications. Such a collection may also be seen (although still far from complete) in the same institution.

For a teaching collection of minerals, an admirable model has for several years past been exhibited in the Mineralogical Gallery of the Natural History Museum,

OF

ARRANGEMENT OF A MUSEUM
NATURAL HISTORY IN CONNECTION
WITH A PUBLIC SCHOOL.

HAVING lately been asked by Dr. Warre, Head Master of Eton, to give him some assistance in the niting up, arrangement, and management of the museum about to be inaugurated at that College, I put down some notes, which he was pleased to think might be of use in pointing out the lines that should be followed with most advantage. As these notes are equally applicable to other school museums, I venture to publish them for the information of those who may be in position to profit by them, premising that they are mere outlines, which are susceptible of much elaboration in detail, and of some modifications according to special circumstances.

The subjects best adapted for such a museum are zoology, botany, mineralogy, and geology.

Everything in the museum should have some distinct object, coming under one or other of the above subjects, and under one or other of the series defined below, and everything else should be rigorously excluded. The rarator's business will be quite as much to keep useless specimens out of the museum, as to acquire those that are useful.

The two series or categories under which the admissible specimens should come are the following:-(1) Specimens illustrating the teaching of the natural history subjects adopted in the school, arranged in the order in which the subjects are, or ought to be, taught. (2) Some special sets of specimens of a nature to attract boys to the study of such branches of natural history as readily lie in the path of their ordinary life, especially their school hfe, and to teach them some of the common objects they see around them.

The specimens of the first class should be all good of their kind, carefully prepared and displayed, and fully Labelled. They should also be so arranged that they can be seen and studied without being removed from their position in the case or in any way disturbed or damaged. It would be best that they should never be taken out of the museum, but if it is necessary to remove them for the purpose of demonstration at lectures or classes, special provision should be made by which a whole tray or case can be moved together, with due precautions against disturbing the individual specimens. As a rule, the teachers should either bring the classes into the museum for demonstrations, or they should rely upon a different set of specimens kept in store in the class-rooms, and only brought out when required, and which may be handled and examined without fear of injury. Really good permanent preparations may be looked at, but not touched except by very skilled hands.

In zoology the collection should consist of illustrations of the principal modifications of animal forms, living and extinct, a few selected typical examples of each being given, showing the anatomy and development as well as the external form. The series now in the course of arrangement in the Central Hall of the Natural History branch of the British Museum, in the Cromwell Road, may, as far as it is complete, be taken as a guide, but for a school museum it will not be necessary to enter so fully into detail as in that series.

In botany there should be a general morphological collection, showing the main modifications of the different organs in the greater groups into which the vegetable

"Introduction to the Study of Minerals" cut up, and with the statements in each illustrated by a choice specimen. The geological collection would best be limited mainly to a series illustrating the rocks and characteristic fossils of the British Isles, arranged stratigraphically. There would be no difficulty in making such a series on any scale, according to the space available, and if well selected and arranged, it would be extremely instructive and form a complete epitome of the whole subject. It should be placed in a continuous series along one side of the room, beginning with the oldest and ending with the most recent formations. It might be preceded by some general specimens illustrating the various kinds of rock structures, &c.

Mineral and fossil specimens are generally to be procured as wanted from the dealers, and as they require little or no preparation, collections illustrating these subjects can be quickly made, if money is available for the purpose. This is not, however, the case with zoological and botanical specimens, most of which require labour, skill, and knowledge to be expended upon their preparation before they can be preserved in such a manner as to make them available for permanent instruction.

We will next proceed to consider what objects may be included under the second head, many of which need not be constantly exhibited, but may be preserved in drawers for special study. These may be

(1) A well-named collection of the commoner British insects, especially those of the neighbourhood in which the school is situated, with their larvæ, which should (if means will allow) be mounted on models of the plants upon which they feed. All should have their localities and the date of capture carefully recorded. These are best kept in a cabinet, with glass-topped drawers, with a stop behind, so as to allow them to be pulled out for inspection, but not entirely removed. Such a collection, formed of specimens prepared and presented by Lord Walsingham, can now be seen in the British Room of the Natural History Museum.

(2) A similar collection of British shells, especially the land and freshwater shells of the neighbourhood.

(3) If space and means allow, a collection of British birds, especially the best-known and more interesting species. Rare and occasional visitors, reckoned in the books as British, which are the most expensive and difficult to procure, are the least important for such a collection. Variations in plumage in young and old, and at different seasons, should be shown in some common species. Every specimen must be good and well mounted, or it is not worth placing in the museum.

(4) The principal British mammals of smaller size, especially the bats, shrews, and mice.

(5) The British reptiles, Amphibia, and commoner fishes, so shown that their distinctive characters may be recognized.

(6) A collection, as complete as may be, of British plants, or at all events of the plants of the neighbourhood. By far the best way of preserving and exhibiting such a collection is in glazed frames, movably hinged upon an upright stand, as may be seen in the Botanical Gallery of the Natural History Museum. A collection arranged in this manner should find a place in every local museum of natural history.

(7) A collection of the fossils found in the quarries of the neighbourhood, should there be any.

Every collection or series should be kept perfectly dis

For

tinct from and independent of the others, and its nature and object clearly indicated by a conspicuous label. The exhibited specimens should be arranged in upright wall-cases or in table-cases on the floor of the room. the latter a high slope is preferable, and in all the exhibition space should not extend too high or too low for comfortable inspection. Between three to six or seven feet from the floor should be the limits for the exhibition of small objects. The three feet nearest the floor may be inclosed with wooden doors forming cupboards or fitted with drawers. Glass in this situation is liable to be broken by the feet or knees.

The museum should have a permanent curator-a man of general scientific attainments, and who is specially acquainted with, and devoted to, museum work, and who might also be one of the teachers, if too much of his time is not so occupied. But, as he is not likely to have special knowledge of more than one branch of natural history, the teachers of the other branches represented in the museum would probably each give advice and assistance with regard to his own department. It is also probable that some of the boys may be sufficiently interested in the work to render valuable aid in collecting and preparing specimens.

If ethnographical, archæological, historical, or art collections be also part of the general museum scheme, they should be kept quite distinct from the natural history collections, preferably in another room.

Above all things, let the following words of Agassiz be remembered: The value of a museum does not consist so much in the number as in the order and arrangement of the specimens contained in it."

W. H. FLOWER.

THE FISHERY INDUSTRIES OF THE UNITED STATES.

THE

HE volumes which form the subject of the present article are the continuation of a complete monograph of the fisheries and fishing industries of the United States, of which the first and second sections have already been published under the titles of "A Natural History of Useful Aquatic Animals," and "A Geographical Review of the Fisheries of the United States."

The direction of the immense investigation necessary for the preparation of this work has been in the hands of Mr. G. Brown Goode, who, as early as 1877, had drawn up a scheme for an exhaustive exploration of the coast of the United States in connection with the fishing industry; The enterprise was undertaken jointly by the United States Fish Commission and the Census Bureau, and the expenses of investigation, compilation, office and field work, and publication, have been shared by these two departments.

A work of this magnitude was quite beyond the powers of an individual, and we find accordingly that a number of authors, whose names are given at the back of the title-page, have been associated with Mr. Brown Goode in his undertaking. Among them are many names well known to science from their contributions to the natural history of the United States. Chief among these are Messrs. Marshall MacDonald, J. A. Ryder, and other members of the United States Fish Commission.

An English reader will invariably use his knowledge of British fisheries as a standard for comparison with those of a foreign country, and, in doing so, will find many difficulties, owing, not only to the difference in the species of fish which are found on the two sides of the Atlantic, "The Fisheries and Fishery Industries of the United States." By George Brown Goode, Assistant Secretary of the Smithsonian Institute, and a staff of Associates. Section III. The Fishing-Grounds of North America, with 49 Charts, edited by Richard Rathbun. Section IV. The Fishermen of the United States, by George Brown Goode and Joseph W. Collins. Section V. History and Methods of the Fisheries; in Two Volumes, with an Atlas of 255 Plates. (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1887.)

1

but to the fact that many of our common names, such a pollack and hake, are applied to different fish in America, and that the Americans often use an altogether pecul. zoological nomenclature, which may throw even an exper enced zoologist into confusion. Many American fishes of great commercial importance are unknown in Great Britan such as the tautog (Tautoga onitis), the squeteage (Cynoscion regale), the blue-fish (Pomatomus saltator), menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus), and the shad (Clar sapidissima). The most favourite edible crab of North America (Callinectes hastatus), the blue crab, is a perfectly distinct species from our common Cancer þagurus, and the American lobster (Homarus americanus, and oyster (Ostræa virginica) are different from our o The European sole is unknown in American waters, 24 are our turbot and brill; the halibut, which has only recently become important in British fisheries, is of great importance in America, and their "plaice" (Paralichtin dentatus) differs entirely from the fish known to us t that name. These and many other differences in the species of marketable fish are important, as they serve in part to explain the different methods pursued by American fishermen'; why, for instance, beam-trawling is unknown in their waters.

Of the third section of the monograph, which forms i half of the first of the four volumes under consideration, 31Brown Goode himself says:-"It is the first report of the kind ever written. It describes the locations, the characteristics, and the productiveness of the numerous grounds resorted to by the fishermen of the United States, extending from Greenland to Mexico, from Lower California to Alaska, and including the fishing grounds of the great lakes." For the Atlantic seaboard this work is carried out on a scale of completeness never before attempted. Not only does the text abound with inform tion relative to the different fishing grounds and banks their history, productiveness, the character of them bottom, and the weather prevailing there at different in a series of admirable charts which form in themselves seasons, but the whole of this is graphically represented Greenland to Mexico. In addition to this, the migrations a complete fisherman's guide to the whole coast from of different species of fish from locality to locality are alluded to, and the characters of the invertebrate fauna are, in some instances, adduced in explanation of thes migrations. It is impossible to criticize this part of the work to do so one must have a thorough knowledge a all the principal fishing-grounds of America; but, granted charts and text are founded are correct, the method of that the information and observations on which the displaying this information is unimpeachable.

appendix containing the temperature observations from Not the least valuable part of Section III. is the 1881 to 1885 inclusive. A word as to the manner of making these observations will not be out of place. The Census Bureau was, of course, unable to undertake this kind of work, and the Fish Commissioners, whose steamers were constantly engaged in expeditions to various localities, found that they could not keep a sufficiently continuous record of the temperatures ob served at different points along the coast. Application was accordingly made to the United States Lighthouse Board and Signal Service, and these departments ir structed their employés to make the required observations as part of their regular duties, and without extra compensation. The editor acknowledges the thoroughness with which these men performed the gratuitous services demanded of them, and the result is a large number of charts of temperature curves for each observing station, and charts showing the isothermal lines connecting the stations in different years.

The Pacific fisheries are dealt with in a much le complete manner, and are referred to as being unde veloped. The Alaskan fisheries are more fully dealt

with, and have a special interest as forming the chief, if not the only means of subsistence of the native populaton. The methods of fishing adopted there are of the most primitive character, and very few civilized fishermen are employed in the industry. Fish, however, is exceedingly abundant, and its value is shown by the price of salmon (Oncorhynchus) in the Yukon River. Dried sanon is called ukali, and the best quality chowichee di. One chorwichee ukali is accounted a sufficient way food for six men or dogs, and can be purchased for une leaf of tobacco, or five to eight musket-balls.

The fourth section of the monograph relates to the United States fishermen themselves. In 1880 there were 101,684 bond fide professional fishermen in the United States, those men only being reckoned as fishermen who make more than half their income by fishing. At the same time there were in Great Britain and Ireland between yo,000 and 100,000 fishermen who would come under this definition. It appears that whalers and sealers are reckoned among the American fishermen, and as they are certainly not reckoned in the English computation, the number of men engaged in fishing, properly so called, would be about equal in the two countries. Of the United States fishermen, the majority, including the negroes of the Southern States, and the Alaskans, are native-born American citzens, while from 10 to 12 per cent. are foreigners. The majority of the latter are Datives of British provinces; the remainder are made up of Portuguese from the Azores, Scandinavians, Irish, and Englishmen, Italians, Indians, and, on the Pacific Coast, Chinese. The chapters devoted to the fishermen of the different States are very interesting. The descripSon of the Maine fishermen might be taken from any English fishing port. They are hardy, self-reliant, and honest, but are ill educated, inveterate grumblers, and entirely in the hands of the middleman. They will work hard when fishing, but are reluctant to undertake any other work, even for good pay. They marry early, and bave large families, whilst their profits are low, the average annual return to each fisherman being $175 about £36).

States.

Dyster-dredging seems to have a peculiarly demoralizing effect in the United States, the white oystermen of Maryland being reckoned as the lowest of their class. The New England fishermen are the best educated, the most enterprising, and the most successful in the United Unlike the majority of European fishermen, they do not form a class apart, and have no peculiar traits of characteristics marking them off from their felLow-countrymen. They are good men of business, and ay of them have left the fishing trade altogether, and been highly successful in other branches of business. Their fishing-craft, nearly all schooner-rigged, are the finest and largest in the world, and their life on board fat more civilized and comfortable than anything met with in Europe. Their earnings are far higher than those of the Maine fishermen. A Gloucester man will Commonly make $1000 (more than £200) in a year, whilst skippers who are partly owners have on rare occasions made as much as $10,000 to $15,000 in a single year from 2000 to £3000). Men living under such condaons are naturally of a high standard of intelligence, and the US Fish Commission have profited largely from the co-operation of the New England fishermen. They dave from the first recognized the value of a scientific requnty in fishing matters; have in many instances devored themselves heartily to assisting the labours of the Commissioners; have kept regular records of their journeys, including observations on tides, temperatures, weather, and sea-bottoms; have collected the fauna of the different fishing-grounds, and otherwise have been instrumental in helping scientific observation. They have one and all been ready to profit by the information gained by the Commission, and have readily tried and

adopted novel methods of fishing, such as gill-nets for cod-fishery, and purse-seines for catching mackerel. It is obvious, from a perusal of this volume, that the American fishermen are far more careful of their fish than Englishmen; they do not thump them down on the deck and stamp about on them, as is too commonly done on a British smack; they carefully clean them on board, and store them in proper receptacles, and, where fish is cured, it is commonly done on board when the fish is perfectly fresh. The reputation of the Gloucester, Mass., fishermen is curiously illustrated by a petition sent to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland this year. It was reported that several American schooners were coming to fish for mackerel off the coast of Ireland, and the fishermen, who do not fear the competition of English and French boats, were in great alarm lest the Americans with their purse-seines and large boats should utterly sweep the seas of fish.

Section IV. closes with a description of the dangers to which American fishermen are exposed, and an account of the management of fishing-craft. The whole is most interesting reading.

Section V. comprises two thick volumes of text and one of plates. The subjects it deals with range from whalefishing to sponge-gathering, from baiting hooks to preparing sardines. Each branch of the fishing industry is minutely described in the text; the history of the fishery is given; old and new methods are compared; the boats, crews, fishing-gear, methods of packing and curing on board are carefully explained, and the descriptions are supplemented by a profuse number of illustrations.

It will be unnecessary to follow the various branches of fishing in detail, but a few remarks on special forms of fishing will be of interest. As has been said above, the Americans have no beam-trawl fishery: the flat-fish which are so highly prized in Europe are either absent from the American shores, or are held in low estimation, and we find no special mention of flat-fish fisheries in this section, with the exception of the extensive fishery for halibut. There appears to be a prejudice against flat-fish in many parts of America, and there is certainly a prejudice against the use of the beam-trawl. If the latter were introduced, and the several flat-fishes which are abundant in some parts of the United States waters were thrown freely into the market, an important branch of fishery would no doubt be established. Halibut are caught in deep water by means of long lines, known in America as "trawls,"" just as they are by the Grimsby boats working in the neighbourhood of the Faroe Islands. The method of setting several long lines round the schooner by means of smaller boats called "dories," is well worth noticing, but the great risk to life entailed by the use of the "dories" is an objection to introducing this mode of fishing into British waters.

The cod-fishery of the United States is very large, and is carried on to a large extent on the Great Bank of Newfoundland, as well as on the Labrador and St. Lawrence coasts. There appears to be a fine cod-fishery off Alaska, but it has only been partially worked by a small fleet hailing from San Francisco. The cod-fishery was formerly, and still is to a large extent, carried on by hand lines and long lines, or trawls," but in 1880 the U.S. Fish Commission succeeded in introducing gill-nets, long since used by the Norwegians, among the fishermen of Gloucester. The obvious advantages of the cod gillnets are that they save the fishermen the trouble and expense of obtaining bait, which is often as difficult to procure as it is in England, and thus increase their profit; they are easily set and worked, they catch more than the long lines working on the same ground, and as the size of the mesh is adapted only for cod of a certain size, the small fish or trash" pass through and escape. This is a good example of the practical usefulness of the U.S. Fish Commission.