ZOOLOGY. 



A DREDGING TRIP TO ARRAN. 

 By J. R. HENDERSON, M.B. 



ON a clear evening in July last the writer, accompanied by 

 some scientific friends, steamed out of a Glasgow ship- 

 building yard on board the Scottish Marine Station's yacht 

 " Medusa." Our destination was Lamlash Bay, and we went with 

 the object in view of a few days dredging along the picturesque 

 shores of Arran. 



After an uneventful journey down the sewage-polluted Clyde 

 Dumbarton was reached, and the night was spent under shelter of 

 its castled rock. On the following morning a start was again 

 made ; but, owing to the " Medusa" running aground on a sand- 

 bank during the ebb, we were reluctantly forced to prolong our 

 stay and wait the turn of the tide. However, in a short time, the 

 yacht was again under way, and after a delightful sail past the 

 beautiful Clyde watering-places, and round the south end of Bute, 

 the blue peaks of Arran hove in sight. Late in the afternoon we 

 rounded Holy Island, and anchored in Lamlash Bay opposite the 

 village. 



For a long time this has been a happy hunting ground of 

 naturalists ; and certain it is that there are few areas of similar ex- 

 tent in Britain, which the modern dredge " with its iron edge and 

 mystical triangle," has more assiduously scraped. The admirable 

 shelter offered by the Holy Island opposite probably has a 

 marked influence on the extreme richness of animal life present. 

 Many names could be cited, but we will be content with simply 

 mentioning those of Landsborough, Norman, and Herdman, who 

 have specially worked up the invertebrate fauna of the bay. Dr. 

 Landsborough, in his interesting " Excursions to Arran," written 

 at a time when the island was less visited and known than now, 

 gives very full lists, especially of the Mollusca and of the marine 



