MARINE BIOLOGICAL STATION AT PORT ERIN. 21 



Liverpool ]\Ierchants and Ship-owners, who have kindly helped us by providing 

 on various occasions, steam-tugs for our dredging trips. We have more than 

 once been favoured in this way by our good friend Sir James Poole, whom we 

 are delighted to have again with us to-day. (Applause). 



We have also been aided most materially in our movement liy the Liverpool 

 Salvage Association, who have lent us in successive years at this time their 

 useful and sturdy old gunboat the " Hyaena," whose graceful form you have 

 seen more than once in Port Erin Bay (applause). I do not know whether you 

 are all aware what a celebrated craft she is. Do you know that she was built 

 for the Crimea, nearly forty years ago, along with a batch — perhaps one ought 

 to call them a "litter," — of other mammalia, the "Porcupine," the "Jackal," 

 and others ? Do you know that she was General Gordon's own gunboat during 

 the war in China. Avhen he pursued the rebels up the shallow rivers, and ran the 

 " Hyfena " ashore on the mud banks in order to blow up their forts ? And now, 

 in her peaceful okl age, she is lent by her present owners to certain enthusi- 

 astic biologists, who haul in dredges and other strange instruments over her 

 low rounded stern, and send her electric lights in. nets down to the bottom of 

 the sea, for the purpose of capturing new and rare animals, and they succeed 

 too, for is not one of their interesting new animals named Juncsiella 

 Hycence, in honour of the old gunboat ? 



As a result of our successive expeditions in the Hyrena, and in other ways, 

 our Committee has been enabled to achieve a very considerable measure ot 

 success. We have published a number of lengthy reports upon the various 

 groups of animals in our district, and, lastly, we have established and kept 

 up for five years, a small marine biology station on Puffin Island. The Puffin 

 Island establishment has been of very great service to us, but during the last 

 year or so we have, I think, all felt that the tiuie had arrived when it would 

 be an advantage to move our centre of operations to some less inaccessible 

 spot in a new part of the area. Naturally our choice was determined by the 

 rich marine fauna round this southern end of the Isle of j\lan, and that brings 

 us down to the present time, and to the little laboratory which has been 

 opened for Avork to-day. I must not conclude, however, without referring 

 gratefully on the part of the committee to our host of thi Bellevue, our 

 landlord of the biological station, ]\Ir. Clague, for his helpful assistance and 

 energetic support. Remember it was only on March 6th, that Mr. Thom[)Son 

 and I came over here to inspect and to decide whether Port Erin, Port St. 

 Mary, or Castletown would be best suited for our purposes. We were happily 

 directed to Mr. Clague, and it is mainly due to his energetic action that the 

 station has been so s[)eedily completed (Applause). I thank you all, on behalf 

 of the Committee, for your kind wishes, and for the support you are giving 

 us in our work. (Applause). 



:\[r. I. C. Tliom[ison said— Tlie biological asi>ect of the work of the 



