ZOO NOTES

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2298, 31 October 1914, Page 14

ZOO NOTES

A PLEASANT SUNDAY AFTERNOON. FISH OVA. A CORRECT PREDICTION. CBy John Orewes, President of the Wellington Zoological Sooiety.] Sunday afternoon, October 4, should be memorable to the numerous observant visitors that visited the Wellington Zoo at that time. It was tho first Sunday on which the aquarium was open to tho public. The weather was fine; the animals in the Zoo having survived a very trying winter were in splendid condition; tho perch in the s ao,uarium had deposited ova in two tanks, in one of which eggs stuck together were stuck to the'bottom of the tank, while in another the strings of eggs were wreathed round the sterna of a growing plant; iittle brook trout, which when they wero first placed in the aquarium remained for a while almost inert in a corner at the bottom of the tank, were gliding and darting or gently moving and displaying the exquisitely beautiful markings with which Nature is quietly adorning them; the littlo Japanese gold-fish with tails of the most exquisitely delicate texture were showing at advantage, having lost all feeling of fear and strangeness; all the othei fishes, and all tho birds and all the beasts, inclusive of the vivacious baby monkeys, whose lively antics and evident funniness attracted the special attention of large congregations of intensely interested spectators—all contributed to the enjoyment of the very large number of visitors that to ' thoughtful students were much more deepfv interesting even,than the Zoo. Hundreds of young men, worthily representative of the manhood of New Zealand, and dressed in uniform that indicated that they had devoted themselves to the will of the Empire, were present; they were accompanied .by numerous relatives and friends, and a great many other members of the general' public completed the complement. The general appearance was fine, the conduct was orderly, the spirit manifested was glorious. There was no foolish hilarity, no ostentatious display, no - jingoistic vaunting, no thoughtless. . frivolity. The presence of so many military visitors impressed; all ■thoughtful observers with tho gravity of the great crisis through which most of the great powers of tho world are passing, and tho quiet determination, confidence, and devotion with which our people are ready to discharge their duty. Statesmen and the Aquarium. The Parliaments of. several civilised nations have given much attention to 1 fish, and ought'to give much more attention. Hatcheries. havo , been provi<letJ,' inspectors of fisheries have been appointed, protective laws have been ; passed, fish have been translated from one part of the world to another, and a healthy public opinion' on fisheries has been extended. Aquariums,' some mar--1 ;ine and. some fresh water, havo been established, and havo yielded a great amount of valuable information. Mr. Taylor tells, in his very interesting book on the Aquarium, that some years ago a'Royal Commission, on which several naturalists sat, met at some of the fishing ports of the United Kingdom and took evidence from fishermen and otiiere ;as to whether trawling did not do much harm, by breaking up the sea bed where the ova of lish had been' deposited. Tho idea then was that" the cod arid whiting, two very important food-fishes, deposited their eggs on the sea floor. A Danish naturalist had expressed his opinion that the ova of these fish floated on the surface, but it .was first substantiated in. the Brighton aquarium, whero it .was-found that the ova, botli of these fish. and the mackerel, floated on the surface during tho ontire period of their development. IV is suggested that had it not been for that discovery a law would havo been passed that by entirely restraining ■■ trawling operations over cod grounds during the whole of tho spawning season, would have unnecessarily restricted , the supply of fish, and caused great losses. Naturalists and statesmen then obtained invaluable' information from an aquarium. Much other information' has been received from the aquarium's that havo' beon established in several parts, of the world. Weather Forecasts and the Zoo. On the 12th day of January, 1914, I confidently predicted that last winter, then in the future, would be "an early winter, with some rather severe weather." I also said "I confidently venture to predict that Wellington's next winter will begin early, and, unlike our last winter, was, will be: rather severe,." Now, as it has "beon stated that 'a forecast based on the animals in Wellington Zoo proved incorrect, and has ' been suggested that therefore reports so based should be disregarded, I must emphasise the fact that my inference drawn from what I saw. in the Zoo proved perfectly accurate, and confirms my belief that animals are excellent indicators scientifically pointing to climatic conditions and seasonal prospects. l'do not interfere with respon-' sible meteorologists; their forecasts, as far as I know are as accurate as I could expect, but from what I havo read of weather forecasting by meteorology I infer that no official meteorologist can with fiio instruments of an ordinary observatory and tho small amount of information that he can at any ono time use, correctly forecast more than two' or three days, of tenor two than three, oftener one than two, and sometimes none at all. From what 1 know of animals, I inferthatbyacareful v ,and continuous study of animals a scientific observer could obtain sufficient data to enable him to give seasonal forecasts just as reliable as the daily forecasts of our official meteorologists are. Every intelligent farmer knows that parts of Nature that depend upon each other work together, although they seem to work separately, and without relation to t?ach other. Now, in a Zoo, we uotice Nature working many marvellous adaptations, and we perceive that while she is working by forces that are changing the environment of animals, the changing environment and the forces effecting it are. affecting corresponding forces within the animal. When wo see what Nature is providing the animals for, we scientifically inter what kind of environment the animal will be placod in, and when long before the usual' time we see Nature preparing animals for winter it is safe to predict an early winter. Now, I submit that my prediction was' eo correct that to-day if I had to describe last winter I could not do better than say that it exactly answered to the prognostication that I published in The Dominion on January 12. That the winter was very early evory bowler knows; and- that in tho first half of the winter there were patches of such severe weather that the changes in the weather which were very sudden wero so severe that they caused more trouble in the Zoo, than had been caused by the weather of any other winter that has passed since Mr. Langridge became curator is known. So exactly did the first .half of tho winter correspond to what 1 predicted that numerous friends congratulated me on my success; and I was so convinced of the solcntific accuracy of my «ibservations and inferences that 1 regard the confirmation of my opinions so important that in future when I offer advice as to the animals to ho purchased in any winter, I shall- rely on tlio results of such observations as wy prediction last January was based upon. Farmers may be assured that they may safely rely on what I publish in my notes. A good portion of the last fifty-live years I have spent in tho 6tuUy of science. I have studied tho books of the greatest masters of several departments, and have personally etudifld animals, some wild and some domesticated, so that I think I know what to 6ay and