I 1 34- OYSTERS, AND ALL ABOUT THEM. 



resident superintendent, and fitted with aquaria, labora- 

 tories, and apparatus, and possessed of boats and dredging 

 apparatus. Two or three fishermen would be kept in the 

 pay of the observatory. The institution thus organised 

 would be frequented at all times of the year by naturalists 

 desirous of carrying on original investigations relative to 

 the life-history and structure of marine organisms. Accom- 

 modation for as many as six such naturalists might be pro- 

 vided. 



" The affairs of the observatory and the granting of 

 permission to make use of its appliances might be entrusted 

 to a small committee consisting (for example) in the first 

 place of the Warden of the Fishmongers' Company, the 

 Professors of Zoology, Botany, and Physiology, in the 

 Universities of Great Britain and in the London Colleges, 

 and the Secretaries of the Linnean and Zoological Societies 

 of London. 



" Were such an observatory once established there is 

 every reason to believe that funds could be raised annually 

 for the purpose of extending its operations and of carrying 

 on special work in it by grants from scientific societies, the 

 universities, and such sources. 



" The obstacle hitherto to the establishment of a 

 British Zoological Observatory has been the difficulty of 

 obtaining the large sum necessary to launch the institution. 



" It is calculated that 8000 would be sufficient to 

 secure a site and erect and furnish a suitable building 

 whilst 500 a year should be secured as a minimum income 

 for the purpose of paying a salary of ^250 a year to a 

 resident superintendent, minor salaries to fishermen and 

 attendants, and of meeting the small current expenses. 



" The income of the institution might be materially 

 aided by the payment of a fee (say $ a month) on the 



