ACCLIMATISATION.

Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 77, 25 November 1864, Page 3

ACCLIMATISATION.

i At- a recent, sitting . of the .British Association for the promotion of science .at, Bath, Dr. J. B. G.-ay, F.ii. ->„ delivered an address on Acclimatisation, as President in .sectioh, D. (Zoology and ootany). Re erring first 'to the domestication of ai umals," lie said 1-i— lt :w"6uld appear . as , if all the unimais- which are worth 'dorn'estieatingliave already been domesticated, 'and -have- been' so from the earliest histoilc times. Tlie turkey was hot known until the:discovery of America T but it- ; had. been I siltisl'actorilyr.prqyed that our - domestic, -turkey is I not descended from" thV wild turkey of America, but comes of a race which was domesticated by" tlie Mexicans before 'the historic period. It had been thought, that some of tlie numerous specimens of African antelopes might be domesticated here, hut ,'e very phe who' had ' eaten ' of tlieir "flesh; described; it.as", harsh and dry, and - without fat. Certain :French philosophers , had' lately taken -; up ' a iibtibh that it was desirable to pervert ! the' true purpose of the horse by cultivating him -for "food instead of work,-and a society of ;hippophagi .had ueen instituted with this ; view: Of course,;' under present circumstances, the flesh of old and wornoiits hbrses'-was sold for much less than the, meats of w.-11-fed* ruinihants;. and the. miserable elasses;incountries wer&glad to obtain .aiiiinaL. food of all idnds at a low rate, but whenever an attempt had been male to fatten horse 3 for food, it had been i , 6und'tharthe"meat r co'uld' : n6t'be^produced at-so= low a.ratolas that for which -far better .beeF.and mutton could be bought. With, regard, to. the. lirger ruminants : such as the giraffe, the eland,, and. some other foreign deer,' the llama and the alpaca', vvliich had been ; bred in this country but never brought into generalise, he could not'consider them as at all acclimatised. They had almost always had tlie protection of warmeabuil Itags, especially in the winter ; and though they might have lived a certain number of years they were liable to attacks of diseases dependent ui'-on our : climate, and. generally die before their natural term of existence was completed; He could only regard them, therefore, a3 objects of curiosity arid iu.s.tiry, and incapable of being turned to any I useful domestic purpose. . . . . . : . . 1 Di" >ravmrther referred to theatt -mp'ts to acclima--1 tise British birds and animals in various parts "of I Australia. He said — Among other, attempts referred "to were the blackbirds, thru dies, sfarlings; and skylarks of Europe. These latter seenied to oe established in the botanic gardens ; butit was loubtml whether such birds could find their appropriate food except in cultivated gardens or near the towns. On the other hand, it was to be observed that the introduction into a new .country, of domestic or seini-do.iiest-icated animals was not always an umnixed advantage." Indeed", it had been prove! by Dr Hooker, in an interesting paper on the replacementof species in the colonies, that . the : introduction of a new .animal or plant often resulted in destroying or taki ig the place of some previous inhabitant. Under the third head, the cultivation of fish, they had eb litt> practical information, and re considered that the advocates of the. system were only feeling there way. To replenish rivera it was necessary closely to study the habits of the fish, and. to imitate as much as possible their natural proclivities. Thus, for example, when attempting to introduce young artiiiciahy -hatched fish into a river, they should place them in streamlets where the fish wouldthemselves deposit their ova. Again, the notion; of fishing the breeding fish out of a river, collecting; their eg.^s,! and, artificially impregnating them,: seemed to him an unnatural mode of proceetling. ' For the replenishing of worn-out i'shsries, of oyster and p^ai-1 fisheries,- all that seemed necessary or; alvautageous'-to'' be done was to place round the bed twi^s and; various similar substances so arranged as to retain the eggs when deposited, and to protect, ihem by all means in ou-powjr, lav ng the ileus undisturbed for a duificiept time,: to allow; the new brood to become firiuly established in' them. Referring to the attempts to , introduce salmon into Australia,- he said, the many failures^ showed how little those who; undertook the task; were acquainted with the; most common phy-| sioldgieal quest ions.; comlected[ with the removal of tish." Nothing could' be -more absurd than to attempt to introduce ; salmon into rivers whichfor a considerable part of the year were reduced to a series of stagnant pobls? He -predicted that if salm >h were ever introduced into Austral a^they were feuch more likely to succeed in the deep i ; rapid rivers ;of Tasmania than .. in the streams of ("uiitralia Proper. It was to be regretted that, thej Australian Acclimatisation Society did not rather make some experiments in the introduction of the ' jouramv | or some ' of the other edible fish " ;of countries "nearer to and- more resembling their own. ""- ;-."..; •" . ':'.. 'J ':.+■..' ■- •'.-; .- \