6 and Mr. Holt, and the growth in many cases followed to the adult condition. This experience, especially at St. Andrews, has demonstrated the comparative ease with which immense numbers of the eggs of valuable food-fishes can be artificially hatched and then placed in the sea. The Fishery Board's Marine Hatchery at Dunbar has done this on a large scale. Last year it was shown at Oxford that about twenty-seven millions of larval plaice, besides cod and flounders, were placed in the sea. This year about 38,615,000 larval plaice, 3,800,000 larval turbot, 2,760,000 larval cod, 2,500,000 larval lemon-dabs (often sold as soles), besides 600,000 larval dabs and flounders, and 450,000 larval haddock and whiting were planted,' making a total for the year of 48,725,000 fishes. The total for the two years is thus 75,285,000 fry placed in the sea, while the mortality was very small. Comparing this result with the totals and the expenditure on the other side of the Atlantic, it has been found that in two seasons the economically managed Scotch establishment pressed closely on the grand totals of twelve or thirteen years' work. The Americans, moreover, chiefly deal with the cod, a fish more easily manipulated, and which produces a far greater number of eggs than the plaice; and the same might be said of the Norwegians. The turbot and lemon-dab, again, are valuable fishes for the first time artificially hatched on a large scale. Dr. Fulton and the staff under him have thus made great progress. English soles have been successfully transferred to Scottish waters, many having been carried long distances, as from the Lancashire coast, where they were obtained through the courtesy of Professor Herdman. The distribution of the foodfishes has been carefully investigated at various stages, as well as their capture by the different instruments used in fishing, especially in connection with the variously sized meshes and hooks. Experiments on the vitality of the fishes after capture by trawl or by hook have also been made. Our knowledge with regard to the food of fishes has been largely increased and grouped under two heads: (1) food which is the product of the locality, and for the most part developed on the bottom; and (2) food which is floating or pelagic, and which might be brought considerable distances by currents. The food of fishes to a large extent primarily depended on plant-life, a wonderful cycle passing from diatom or algoid through the lower animal forms to fishes. Much information has also been ascertained on the subject of close times, as applied both to the herring and white fishes, and is available for legislative purposes. The majority of the mussel beds of Scotland, and some of those in England, have been surveyed and reported on, and the whole question put on a new footing-founded on an accurate knowledge of the reproductions of the mussel, for which we are mainly indebted to Dr. J. Hardie Wilson. A series of observations have likewise been made on oysters with a view to resuscitate exhausted beds, e.g., those of the Forth, where careless administration has reduced an income of 15,000l. or more a year to 148., and this within less than a generation. Various cockle and clam beds have been similarly surveyed, and suggestions made for their conservation and improvement. Experiments in regard to the hatchings of lobsters have been made at Brodick, in Arran, and at Dunbar, and their development is being studied by Dr. Fullerton. Other experiments have been made on the preservation of bait after it was placed on the hooks, and also on the preservation of herrings and white fishes. An important series of physical observations has been carried out in the North Sea as to temperatures, currents, and other features of the water, the relations of these to the fishing grounds and the migrations of fishes. Lastly, a commencement has been made in determining the proportional number of the sexes of salmon entering the rivers at various periods, and their external differences, the determination of when and to what extent the muscles undergo changes during the growth of the roe and milt, so as to clear up the subject of the deterioration of the fish as food. The structure of the alimentary canal of the fish in connection with its cessation to feed and other points are also being studied. These complex investigations are in the hands of Mr. T. Tosh at Berwick-on-Tweed, Dr. Noel Paton, and the staff of the College of Physicians' Laboratory, Edinburgh, and in those of Dr. Alex. Brown, Aberdeen. Some persons think that the Universities, and not the Government, shoul dcarry out such investigations; but it need scarcely be said that the Universities have neither the means, the ships, nor the experienced staff distributed along the coast line and in constant touch with the subject, for efficiently dealing with it. A public department alone is capable of undertaking it with success, as the practice of other nations from America to Japan abundantly testifies. 2. On the Royal Dublin Society's Fishery Survey. 3. On the Fishery School at Ringsend, near Dublin. 4. Oyster Cultural Methods, Experiments and New Proposals. The author spoke of the difficulties in spat collecting, and of some recent suggestions as to their obviation; of the lack of definite knowledge as to the most favourable physical conditions of the oyster's set; of questions of aëration, density, temperature, and silt deposit of the water during the spawning season. He referred to the difficulty in retaining the embryos in bassins and in determining the duration of the motile stage. The suggestiveness of the mare piccolo and of the closed lake of Brénéguy; the experiments in spat collecting of Rice, Saint-Sauveur, and more recent culturists, and the possible defects of the cultural methods lately patented in the United States were also discussed. 5. On Oysters and Typhoid: an experimental Inquiry into the effect upon the Oyster of various external conditions, including Pathogenic Organisms. By RUBERT W. BOYCE, M.B., M.R.C.S., Professor of Pathology in University College, Liverpool; and W. A. HERDMAN, D.Sc., F.R.S., Professor of Zoology in University College, Liverpool. Our motives in undertaking this investigation have been 1. Purely scientific-the elucidation of the life conditions of the oyster, both under normal and abnormal environment. 2. Economic or technological-to trace the causes and effects of diseased conditions, with the view of determining what basis exists for the recent 'Oyster and typhoid' scare, (a) in the interests of the oyster fisheries, and (b) in the interests of the general public. A. The objects, in detail, we had in view in entering on the investigation were as follows:- 1. To determine the conditions of life and health and growth of the oyster by keeping samples in sea waters of different composition-e.g. it is a matter of discussion amongst practical ostreiculturists as to what specific gravity or salinity of water, and what amount of lime are best for the due proportionate growth of both shell and body. 2. To determine the effect of feeding oysters on various substances both natural food such as Diatoms, and artificial food such as oatmeal. Here, again, there is a want of agreement at present as to the benefit or otherwise of feeding oysters in captivity. 3 To determine the effect of adding various impurities to the water in which the oysters are grown, and especially the effect of sewage in various quantities. It is notorious that oysters are sometimes grown or laid down for fattening purposes in water which is more or less contaminated by sewage, but it is still an open question as to the resulting effect upon the oyster. 4. To determine whether oysters not infected with a pathogenic organism, but grown under insanitary conditions, have a deleterious effect when used as food by animals. 5. To determine the effect upon the oyster of infection with typhoid, both naturally-i.e. by feeding with sewage water containing typhoid stools, and artificially-i.e. by feeding on a culture in broth of the typhoid organism. 6. To determine the fate of the typhoid bacillus in the oyster-whether it is confined to the alimentary canal, and whether it increases in any special part or gives rise to any diseased conditions; how long it remains in the alimentary canal; whether it remains and grows in the pallial cavity, on the surface of the mantle and branchial folds; and whether it produces any altered condition of these parts that can be recognised by the eye on opening the oyster. 7. To determine whether an oyster can free its alimentary canal and pallial cavity from the typhoid organism when placed in a stream of clean sea water; and, if so, how long would be required, under average conditions, to render infected oysters practically harmless. B. The methods which we employed in attaining these objects were as follows: 1. Observations upon oysters laid down in the sea, at Port Erin (a) Sunk in 5 fathoms in the bay, in pure water. (b) Deposited in shore pool, but in clean water. (c) Laid down in three different spots in more or less close proximity to the main drain pipe, opening into the sea below low-water mark. These were to ascertain differences of fattening, condition, mortality, and the acquisition of deleterious properties as the result of sewage contamination. 2. Observations upon oysters subjected to various abnormal conditions in the laboratory.1 (a) A series of oysters placed in sea water and allowed to stagnate, in order to determine effect of non-aëration. (b) Similar series in water kept periodically aërated. (c) A series placed in sea water to which a given quantity of fresh (tap) In this series of experiments the oysters were fed every morning and the water aerated, but not changed (evaporation was compensated for by the addition of a little tap water as required). The oysters were weighed from time to time, and observations made upon the apparently harmful or beneficial effects of the above methods of treatment. 1 The oysters were kept in basins in cool rooms of constant temperature, shaded from the sun, both at the Port Erin Biological Station and also in the Pathological and Zoological Laboratories at University College, Liverpool. (e) A series of oysters placed in sea water to which was added daily-. (1) Healthy fæcal matter. (2) Typhoid fæcal matter. (3) Pure cultivations of the typhoid bacillus. The oysters were carefully examined to determine their condition, with special reference to condition of branchiæ, alimentary canal, adductor muscle, and viscera generally. The contents of the rectum, as well as the water in the pallial cavity, were subjected to bacteriological analysis to determine the number of micro-organisms present, as well as the identity of the typhoid or other pathogenic organisms. C. The following is a summary of the results obtained so far: We consider that these results are based upon tentative experiments, and serve only to indicate further and definite lines of research. They must not be regarded as conclusive. We feel strongly that all the experiments must be repeated and extended in several directions. Our experiments demonstrate: I. The beneficial effects of aëration(a) By the addition of air only; (b) By change of water; pointing to the conclusion that the laying down of oysters in localities where there is a good change of water, by tidal current or otherwise, should be beneficial. II. The diverse results obtained by feeding upon various substances, amongst which the following may be noted. The exceedingly harmful action of sugar, which caused the oysters to decrease in weight and die; whilst the other substances detailed above enabled them to maintain their weight or increase. The oysters thrive best upon the living Protophyta and Protozoa. Those fed upon oatmeal and flour after a time sickened and eventually died. III. The deleterious effects of stagnation, owing to the collection of excretory products, growth of micro-organisms, and formation of scums upon the surface of the water. IV. The toleration of sewage, etc. It was found that oysters could, up to a certain point, render clear sewage-contaminated water, and that they could live for a prolonged period in water rendered completely opaque by the addition of fæcal matter; that the fæcal matter obtained from cases of typhoid was more inimical than that obtained from healthy subjects; and that there was considerable toleration to peptonised broth. V. The infection of the oyster by the micro-organisms. The results of the bacteriological examination of the water of the pallial cavity of the oyster, and of the contents of the rectum, showed that in the cases of those laid down in the open water of the bay the colonies present were especially small in number, whilst in those laid down in proximity to the drain pipe the number was enormous (e.g. 17,000 as against 10 in the former case). It was found that more organisms were present in the pallial cavity than in the rectum. In the case of the oysters grown in water infected with the Bacillus typhosus, it was found that there was no apparent increase of the organisms, but that they could be identified in cultures taken from the water of the pallial cavity and rectum fourteen days after infection. It is found that the typhoid bacillus will not flourish in clean sea water, and our experiments seem to show so far that it decreases in numbers in its passage along the alimentary canal of the oyster. It would seem possible, therefore, that by methods similar to those employed in the Bassins de dégorgement' of the French ostreiculturist, where the oysters are carefully subjected to a natural process of cleaning, oysters previously contaminated with sewage could be freed of pathogenic organisms or their products without spoiling the oyster for the market. It need scarcely be pointed out that if it becomes possible thus to cleanse infected or suspected oysters by a simple mode of treatment which will render them innocuous, a great boon will have been conferred upon both the oyster trade and the oyster-consuming public. We desire to acknowledge the kind help of Mr. W. I. Beaumont in making some of the observations at Port Erin, and of Mr. Andrew Scott at Liverpool. 6. On the Oyster Culture in the Colne District. 7. On Fish and Fishing Grounds in the North Sea. 8. The Organisation of Zoological Bibliography. Arrangements are now almost completed for the establishment of an international bibliographical bureau for zoology. This bureau, the organisation of which was begun some three years ago, will be located at Zürich, Switzerland. It will publish a series of bibliographical journals, as follows: 1, a fortnightly bulletin: 2, an edition of the bulletin printed on thin paper, and only on one side of the sheet, so that it may be cut up and used for other bibliographical elaboration; and 3, a complete card-catalogue of all zoological literature published after 1895. In addition, the 'Zoologischer Jahresbericht' will be federated with the undertaking, so as to afford an annual list of titles, arranged alphabetically by authors. In the pamphlet edition the titles will be classified under a series of headings, corresponding to the systematic groups of animals. The cards will be of the standard library size, and will be essentially authors' cards.' They will, however, bear a set of simple symbols, which will permit them to be classified in one of several different ways, according to the special needs of each individual subscriber, viz. 1, alphabetically by authors; 2, systematically by groups of animals; 3, morphologically by organ systems; or 4, faunistically by zoogeographical regions. The system of symbols is so simple that the cards could be arranged by any laboratory boy or library assistant, no knowledge of the science being involved. All the above classifications will be based upon a study of the text itself; and incidental observations, though not mentioned in the title, will be brought out and used as cross-references. Each chapter will then be complete in itself, for it will contain, as far as possible, all observations published on the subject, whether published as whole papers, or as accessory notes in a paper, whose major part is of a very different nature. In a word, the unit for the classification will be the individual observation paragraph, not the paper as a whole. In various parts of the world the bureau will be aided by, 1, national committees; 2, correspondents; and 3, sub-bureaux. The national committees of several countries are already organised. They are to use their influence in securing for the bureau such publications as cannot be consulted in any library to which we have access-the Swiss libraries, that of the Zoological Station at Naples, and those of Leipzig. In case the journals themselves cannot be obtained they are to be reported by correspondents. It is, however, so manifestly in the interest of each author and of every publishing firm or scientific society to make its publications known that co-operation is assured. The matter has already been studied by the French and American committees in considerable detail, and they have found that it is perfectly possible to obtain the journals in the way indicated. There is no reason to suppose that England will show her |