60 METEOROLOGY. [Nov. 



Meteorology. 



NOT Xoah's Ark, Lut tliat of the Scottish Marine Station, 

 formerly in part a lighter, but now lying moored in the 

 old quarry near Granton, flooded some thirty years ago by a sudden 

 inroad of the neiglibouring waters of the Firth of Forth, is here 

 depicted. It may be looked on as the outcome of the successful 

 Fisheries Exhibition held in Edinburgh some three years ago. It 

 is maintained partly on its surplus funds, as well as by voluntary 

 contributions from those anxious for the spread of science. Opened 

 in April last, during the celebrations commemorative of the Ter- 

 centenary of the University, it formed with the opening of the 

 Forestry Exhibition an event in the Calendar of Edinburgh 

 scientists. Extension has since been a marked feature in the 

 programme. The steam-yacht Medusa, not depicted in our wood- 

 cut, has been employed not merely to collect material for investi- 

 gating the marine life swarming in the waters of the Forth, and 

 the depths immediately beyond ; but has made cruises in the Firth 

 of Clyde, both with a view to gain facts for comparison, and also 

 to promote a sister station on the West Coast. An old chemical 

 work has been accpiired on shore, close to the quarry in wliicli the 

 " Ark " is moored, and a land laboratory and museuni will sliortly 

 be opened. 



The accompanying plan of the interior of the " Ark," showing by 

 darker lines its two working rooms, — the largest 20 feet long, — 

 will best answer the query as to what is done within it. As 

 foresters we may only feel a general interest in the strange sea- 

 brutes sporting in the glass aquaria, carried in on the trips of the 

 Medusa, on the tables, or which may be ever and anon brought up 

 by the windlass at the stern of the boat, living in cages, from the 

 deeps of the quarry. A passing look at the microscopes, at which 

 there are usually three or four skilled scientists, with their valu- 

 able library and preparations, may suffice. But the physical and 

 meteorological observations daily carried on in the larger room, 

 and outside, have a very special bearing on forest science. The 

 influence of the sea on the growth of trees and plants has long 

 been recognised. The leafless coasts of the Orkneys and Slietlands, 



