Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 2 (1898).djvu/408

376 Prof. McIntosh recently delivered a lecture in Aberdeen on "The Resources of the Sea." The following extracts are taken from a report of the lecture which appeared in the Aberdeen 'Daily Free Press': —

"He remarked on the enormous length of time and the large extent to which fishing had been carried on for the commercial sponge, the red coral, trepangs, the lob- worm, and similar marketable forms of fish life, and he said it was very interesting and instructive to find that after ages of eager pursuit there is as yet no sign of the extinction of these species. For ages man has gathered the sedentary and creeping shellfishes, such as Mussels, Cockles, Periwinkles, for food and bait, often without the slightest restriction, as in the case of the Periwinkle and Limpet; yet extinction has not ensued in the much-abused and easily reached Mussel, which has suffered, on the one hand, from reckless fishing, and, on the other, from the very varied suppositions of Mussel-merchants and politicians. In dealing with food fishes, he remarked that at first sight it seems almost incredible that such species as the Cod, Haddock, Whiting, Herring, Plaice, and Sole could withstand the vast annual drain caused by the operations of fishermen. Yet at this moment all these species in the open seas present as wide a distribution, and, in some, as little diminution in numbers, as if the constant persecution of man had not been. It is true that the large examples of the common species of food-fishes become fewer by persistent fishing, but it cannot be said that, in the case of either round or flat fishes in the majority of the areas, signs of extinction are apparent. Even, if, in the waters within a reasonable distance of land, fishing were carried to such a degree that it would be no longer profitable to pursue it, it is possible that the adjoining areas and the wonderful powers of increase of the few fishes remaining would by-and-by people the waters as before, because everything in the sea around, including the plentitude of food—so nicely fitted for every stage of growth—would conduce to this end. It has apparently been beyond man's power either to reduce to vanishing point or greatly to increase the yield of the open sea. The larger forms of such species as the Halibut, for instance, may be thinned by constant attacks, but the race continues as before with a resilience and pertinacity none the less sure that they are often doubted and may be denied."

Syndics of the Cambridge University Press have undertaken the publication of a series of monographs upon material obtained by Dr. Arthur Willey, Balfour Student of the University of Cambridge, from New Britain, the Loyalty Islands, and other Islands of the South Pacific during the years 1895-1897 inclusive. The work will embody the zoological results of the expedition, and will, it is expected, be completed in five or six parts.